| Official linked to cockfighting AIKEN - South Carolina Agriculture Commissioner Charles Sharpe of Wagener was arrested Thursday on federal extortion and money laundering charges connected to an Aiken County cockfighting club that was raided late last year. The 12-count federal indictment against Mr. Sharpe, a former state representative and powerful advocate for agriculture who won the Palmetto State's top farming post in 2002, also highlights undercover work conducted by Aiken County Sheriff Mike Hunt both before and after he was elected last year. "We participated in a federal investigation, and I'm going to leave it at that," Sheriff Hunt said Thursday. South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford suspended Mr. Sharpe, a veteran Aiken County Republican, who is married to Aiken County Treasurer Linda Sharpe. The governor immediately started a search for an interim commissioner. If convicted, Mr. Sharpe would be permanently removed from office. After surrendering Thursday morning to federal investigators in Columbia, Mr. Sharpe entered a plea of innocent and was released on an unsecured $100,000 bond. He returned to his home in Wagener, said one of his attorneys, John Felder Sr., of Columbia. "This was a very sad day for Commissioner Sharpe and his family," Mr. Felder said. "It's a very sad day for agriculture in South Carolina. He's put together a strong legal team and looks forward to his day in court. ... He maintains his innocence." Unveiled by federal and state law enforcement officials during a late-morning news conference in Columbia, the 24-page indictment alleges that Mr. Sharpe, who as a legislator pressed to make cockfighting legal in South Carolina, accepted $15,000 in illegal and undeclared contributions in September 2002 from the South Carolina Gamefowl Management Association. The Spartanburg-based group ran the Aiken County cockfighting arena, which was first known as The Testing Facility and later as the Carolina Club. While acknowledging that this money and an additional $10,500 in contributions that were declared on campaign finance reports, Mr. Sharpe tried to convince Mr. Hunt and another unnamed law enforcement officer that the club's events didn't violate South Carolina's law against cockfighting, the indictment alleges. In both instances, Mr. Sharpe met the two law enforcement officials at the Carolina Club. Mr. Sharpe, 67, also is charged with lying to federal and state investigators during three interviews this year. In return for his attempts at persuasion, the cockfighting group made it known that Mr. Sharpe was "... 'their' candidate for Commissioner of Agriculture," the indictment states, and promised to support his campaign with money and votes. During a Nov. 22 raid by sheriff's officials on a five-acre tract of property off a South Carolina highway near Wagener, $50,000 was seized and 118 people were cited for misdemeanor cockfighting at a makeshift arena that included a fighting pit and bleachers. Only six people were from Aiken County, with several attendees from Florida, Georgia and North Carolina. Mr. Sharpe was not present at the time, according to arrest citations obtained by The Augusta Chronicle. The property belonged to The Testing Facility Inc., a corporation registered with the South Carolina Secretary of State's office in 2001. The corporation's president, Mike Grooms of Gilbert, declined to comment on the commissioner's indictment Thursday, referring questions to his lawyer, who did not return phone messages. Calls to the corporation's secretary, Jimmy Collins of Duncan, went unanswered. Both men were included on a list of four potential witnesses against Mr. Sharpe that was revealed during his Thursday appearance in federal court, said another of his attorneys, Jim Griffin, also of Columbia. Mr. Griffin said Mr. Grooms and Mr. Collins are facing their own potential legal problems from the cockfighting investigation and are trying to improve their standing by testifying against Mr. Sharpe. The Carolina Club members previously set up a legal fund to fight the charges and challenge the constitutionality of the law. They are represented by Lexington attorney Billy Walker. The trial date in Wagener Summary Court has not been set. In addition to the charges filed against Mr. Sharpe, a separate federal indictment charges former South Carolina Law Enforcement Agent Keith Bernard Stokes, 40, of Lexington, with lying to federal investigators about tipping off members of the South Carolina Gamefowl Management Association about the two-year investigation into their activities, said U.S. Attorney J. Strom Thurmond Jr. Animal rights activists have blasted South Carolina's misdemeanor-level prohibitions against cockfighting, which they say are too weak, but praised the indictment of Mr. Sharpe as an important first step. "If these charges stand at trial, Commissioner Sharpe will have been found to have abetted a barbaric form of animal cruelty, broken a range of federal laws and violated the people's trust," said Wayne Pacelle, the president of the Humane Society of America. "It appears that in return for thousands of dollars, he used his position to provide protection to an organized ring of cockfighters." Mr. Pacelle, who said cockfighting rings have tight connections to drug dealers, gun runners and other criminals, also highlighted the willingness of Sheriff Hunt to play an undercover role in the investigation. "Sheriff Hunt acted in the best tradition of an official upholding the law and didn't choose to look the other way in the face of pressure to do so," Mr. Pacelle said.
Reach Jim Nesbitt at (803) 648-1395, ext. 111, or jim.nesbitt@augustachronicle.com. Federal CHARGES The 12-count federal indictment against South Carolina Agriculture Commissioner Charles Sharpe centers on alleged violations of three federal laws: Extortion: Mr. Sharpe is charged with two counts of using his position as a state lawmaker and, later, agriculture commissioner, to extract financial or personal gain, a violation of the federal Hobbs Act. Each count carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine Money laundering: Mr. Sharpe is charged with seven counts, accused of diverting legal and illegal contributions from a cockfighting group for personal use. Each count carries a maximum of 20 years in prison and a $500,000 fine.Lying to investigators: Mr. Sharpe is charged with lying about money received from the group during three 2004 interviews with law enforcement officials.Source: Federal indictment
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