Former state Agriculture Commissioner Charles
Sharpe, indicted in July for taking payoffs and using his elected position
to protect an illegal cockfighting ring, pleaded guilty Thursday to
extortion and lying to law enforcement authorities.
Sharpe, who faced 12 counts, made a deal with federal prosecutors and
agreed to admit to one count of extortion and one count of lying to state
and federal investigators. In exchange, the government will drop the 10
other offenses outlined in the indictment, including money laundering.
Sharpe previously had denied all of the charges.
He entered his revised pleas on the two counts in Columbia before U.S.
District Court Judge Cameron Currie. Sharpe was released on personal
recognizance after the 45-minute hearing, said lead prosecutor Mark Moore
of the U.S. attorney's office.
"I am truly sorry for my error in judgment and ask for your
forgiveness,'' Sharpe said in court, directing his remarks to the judge
and the citizens of South Carolina.
A sentencing hearing has not been set. Moore said Currie will hand down
Sharpe's punishment after the completion of a mandatory pre-sentencing
report, which usually takes 60 to 90 days.
Sharpe faces up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine on the
extortion charge. He also faces a maximum of five years in prison and a
$250,000 fine for lying to investigators.
The plea agreement stipulates that Sharpe, 66, serve between 24 and 30
months in a federal prison if he is incarcerated, but Currie is not bound
to follow that provision, Moore said.
Sharpe, a Republican from a rural town in eastern Aiken County, served
in the state House of Representatives for about 11 years before he was
elected agriculture commissioner in 2002.
The case against him resulted from a two-year undercover probe that
started within the Aiken County Sheriff's Office and grew to include the
Federal Bureau of Investigation, the State Law Enforcement Division and
the Internal Revenue Service's criminal unit.
Prosecutors said that shortly after he was elected agriculture
commissioner, Sharpe solicited and received an illegal $10,000 payment
from the South Carolina Gamefowl Management Association. Moore said the
group asked Sharpe to use his office to pass a legislative scheme that
would regulate and license its cockfighting operation, an activity that is
illegal in South Carolina.
"They hoped it would legitimize their business. ... That's why they
sought his assistance," Moore said.
At one point, prosecutors said, Sharpe directed Agriculture Department
employees to draft legislation that would have benefited the gamefowl
association's operations in Aiken and Swansea.
Also, Sharpe admitted that after taking office he lied to local law
enforcement officials about the payments and other matters to protect the
group and cover up his crimes, according to the U.S. Attorney's office.
Moore said "the most damning evidence" against Sharpe was surreptitious
tapings that Aiken law enforcement agents made of their conversations with
him and gamefowl association officials.
"Those undercover recordings were invaluable to us in establishing his
connection to SCGMA ... and his willingness to use his position to assist
the SCGMA," Moore said.
As agriculture commissioner, Sharpe held one of the state's
lower-profile elective offices. He has, however, helped shape state policy
and management for billions of dollars in crops, poultry, dairy and
livestock.
Using his executive powers, Gov. Mark Sanford suspended Sharpe from the
$92,007-a-year elected position immediately after he was indicted and
appointed Bowman dairy farmer Hugh Weathers to serve as interim
agriculture commissioner.
Sharpe officially resigned from the agency in a letter that reached the
governor's office Wednesday, said Sanford spokesman Will Folks.
Election laws require Sanford to name a permanent replacement to serve
out the remainder of Sharpe's term. He plans to meet with Weathers to see
"what his thoughts are at this stage of the process," Folks said.
Weathers could not be reached for comment Thursday.