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24HourForums.com > The Top 10 Supported Forums > LC's Crimes & Trials > Buncombe County ex-sheriff arrested on NINETY counts of Federal gambling charges! |
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sirlamre Pioneer100© Member Official Forum Troublemaker
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The Feds have now arrested our ex-sheriff Bobby Medford on over NINETY counts of allowing and abetting gambling in the county. He was in for 12 years, and was taking BIG payoffs for allowing the machines to exist. I've now found the link to the Federal charges: http://www.ncwd.uscourts.gov/Documents/107cr122_Indictment.pdf Last edited on 08:14 pm by sirlamre  Armed with the power of Thy name nothing can ever hurt me, and with Thy love in my heart all the world's afflictions can in no wise alarm me. |
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sirlamre Pioneer100© Member Official Forum Troublemaker
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Highlights from a 19-page federal indictment against former Buncombe County Sheriff and three of his deputies include: • “Medford used the cash he extorted from illegal VPM (video poker machine) operators, in part, to fund his own gambling activities at Harrah’s Cherokee Casino in Cherokee, North Carolina, and elsewhere. On many of his gambling trips to Harrah’s Cherokee Casino, Medford was accompanied by (former Buncombe sheriff’s Lt. Ronnie) Davis and other employees of the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office (hereinafter “BCSO”), often during normal business hours and sometimes in BCSO vehicles. The BCSO employees who accompanied Medford on these gambling excursions did not take leave or vacation time for the hours they spent away from work. In the calendar year 2006 alone Medford had net losses at Harrah’s Cherokee Casino totaling at least $54,142.” • “Approximately once every two-to-three months from 2002 through 2006, (Former Buncombe sheriff’s Lt. John) Harrison and later Davis would tell JP to come by the BCSO. If he did not come Harrison and Davis would call and remind him to do so. JP knew from past experience that he was expected to bring cash to these visits, and he did so. JP generally brought between $2,000 and $2,500 in cash to the BCSO when (Former Buncombe sheriff’s Capt. Guy) Penland, Harrison and Davis summoned him. JP usually delivered the cash directly to Medford. On at least two occasions, JP delivered $5,000 directly to Medford in Medford’s office.” • “On our about June 3, 2003, JP was sentenced by the Superior Court in Cleveland County, North Carolina, to 75 hours of community service as part of a deferred prosecution on a state criminal charge of allowing gaming tables and possessing slot machines. JP, Penland and Harrison were able to get supervision of his community service transferred to Buncombe County, where JP was to perform community service at the direction of Captain Penland at the BCSO reassurance program. Between June 5 and August 8, 2003, Harrison and Penland falsely certified 13 days on which JP supposedly had performed a total of 77.5 hours of work, when in fact as they knew, he had done no such community service. When officials with the Buncombe County Community Service Work Program contacted Medford about the propriety of this arraignment, Medford placated their concerns.” Here's the public statement Bobby Medford and Three Others Charged with Conspiracy to Commit Extortion Under Color of Official Right and Other Crimes ASHEVILLE, NC - Robert Lee Medford, also known as Bobby Medford, John Harrison, also known as Johnny Harrison, Ronnie Eugene Davis, also known as Butch Davis, and Guy Kenneth Penland have been charged in a federal bill of indictment with conspiring to enrich themselves unlawfully by extorting money from persons involved in the illegal video poker machine business in Buncombe County, within the Western District of North Carolina beginning October 1, 2000 and continuing through December 3, 2006. The indictment, filed under seal in U.S. District Court in Asheville on December 11, charges, among other allegations, that the defendants deprived the citizens of Buncombe County of the right to their honest services, performed free from deceit, favoritism, self-enrichment, self-dealing, concealment, and conflict of interest, by participating in an alleged conspiracy related to illegal video poker machine businesses while employed as sheriff and sheriff’s deputies for Buncombe County. Today’s announcement is made by United States Attorney Gretchen C.F. Shappert for the Western District of North Carolina; Nathan T. Gray, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in North Carolina; Charles Hunter, Special Agent in Charge, IRS Criminal Investigations in North and South Carolina; Robin Pendergraft, Director, North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, and Michael D. Robertson, Director, NC Division of Alcohol Law Enforcement. In addition, substantial assistance in this ongoing criminal investigation to date has been provided by the Sheriffs’ Offices of Buncombe, Cleveland, and Rutherford Counties and the Police Department of Shelby, North Carolina. Bobby Medford, 62, of Weaverville, John Harrison, 66, of Asheville, Ronnie Eugene Davis, 60, of Alexander, and Guy Kenneth Penland, 76, of Asheville have been arrested on various conspiracy, mail fraud, and obstruction of state and local law enforcement charges. Medford, Harrison, Davis and Penland will be afforded initial appearance hearings today, conducted by Federal Magistrate Judge Dennis L. Howell of the Western District of North Carolina at the U.S. Courthouse in Asheville, North Carolina. Each defendant is charged in the indictment (Docket Number: 1:07CR122) with one count of conspiracy to commit extortion under color of official right, five counts of mail fraud in connection with official North Carolina video poker registration stickers, one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud, one count alleging conspiracy to commit money laundering, and one count of obstruction of state and local law enforcement. Ronnie Eugene Davis is charged individually in one count with making false statements to FBI and IRS investigators. The allegations contained in the indictment describe a conspiracy allegedly conducted while Bobby Medford was the elected sheriff of Buncombe County; John Harrison and Ronnie Eugene Davis were lieutenants for the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office, and Guy Kenneth Penland was a special deputy for the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office, working at the time under Sheriff Medford’s employ. According to the indictment the extortion conspiracy was accomplished over a period of time primarily in three ways: (1) defendants organized golf tournaments that generated significant monies for themselves in both election and non-election years; (2) defendants made direct demands for cash from various video poker machine businesses; and (3) defendants worked on behalf of video poker machine operators and received cash for convincing store owners to place machines in their businesses. According to the allegations contained in the indictment the defendants provided business owners and/or video poker machine operators with benefits and services ranging from the non- enforcement of video poker laws, to the falsification of community service records on behalf of a video poker machine operator’s agent charged with criminal offenses. The indictment also alleges instances where one or more of the defendants provided business owners and/or video poker machine business operators with grand jury surveillance, with information that would be known only to law enforcement officers, and with transportation and video poker machine placement. The indictment also contains allegations that the defendants provided business owners and/or video poker machine operators with Special Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office Deputy badges, and that the defendants vouched for the video poker machine business employees with other law enforcement agencies. The indictment also alleges that Davis made telephone calls from his office at the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office to warn certain illegal video poker machine operators that search warrants were being executed. The indictment further alleges extortion activity by the defendants in connection with two owners of businesses that put video poker machines in Buncombe County, two video poker machine businesses, and three local owners and operators of illegal gambling businesses. If convicted, the defendants face the following maximum statutory penalties: The conspiracy to commit extortion under color of official right carries a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine, or both. Mail fraud carries a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine, or both. Conspiracy to commit mail fraud carries a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine, or both. Conspiracy to commit money laundering carries a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years imprisonment and a fine of either $250,000 or twice the amount of the money laundered , and obstruction of state and local law enforcement carries a maximum statutory penalty of 5 years imprisonment and a fine of $250,000, or both. Making false statements carries a maximum statutory penalty of 5 years imprisonment and $250,000 fine, or both. The indictment includes a Notice of Forfeiture and Finding of Probable Cause that Defendants Medford, Harrison, Penland, and Davis forfeit to the United States all of the property involved in the offenses with which they are charged in the indictment, and all property traceable to such offenses. Currency and monetary instruments listed in the Notice of Forfeiture include the sum of approximately $287,776 in proceeds, the sum of approximately $18,000 in U.S. currency seized from Davis’s residence, and the sum of $19,866.42 in U.S. currency from a certificate of deposit account in the name of Ronnie Eugene Davis. The case is being investigated by the FBI, the IRS Criminal Investigation Division, the North Carolina SBI, and the NC Division of Alcohol Law Enforcement, with cooperation from a number of local Western North Carolina law enforcement agencies. The prosecution is being handled for the government by Assistant United States Attorneys Richard L. Edwards and Corey Ellis of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of North Carolina in Asheville. The details contained in the indictment are allegations. The defendants are presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law. In a separate, but related indictment, also filed in U.S. District Court in Asheville on December 11, 2007, six (6) additional individuals and a business (Western Amusement, Inc.) have been charged with conspiring to conduct an illegal gambling business in the Western District of North Carolina by making cash payouts on video poker machines in violation of the laws of the State of North Carolina. Owner Jack Willis Shepherd, and five other persons have been charged alongside of, and in connection with Western Amusement, Inc., with one count of conspiracy to conduct an illegal gambling business and with one count of conducting an illegal gambling business. Jack Willis “Jackie” Shepherd was also arrested this morning and will be afforded an initial appearance hearing today, conducted by Federal Magistrate Judge Dennis L. Howell of the Western District of North Carolina at the U.S. Courthouse in Asheville, North Carolina. Jack Willis Shepherd, also known as Jackie Shepherd, 62, of Weaverville, NC Western Amusement, Inc. located in Weaverville, NC The indictment remains sealed as to the five other defendants. According to the indictment relating to Western Amusement, Inc., it is alleged that the business was a North Carolina corporation owned by Jack Willis Shephard, and that from October 1, 2000 and continuing through about July 1, 2007, Western Amusement, Inc. owned and operated video poker machines in Buncombe and Madison Counties, NC. The indictment alleges that video poker machines owned by Western were placed in businesses (stores) where the machines were operated illegally, with the store owners and the defendants splitting the profits from the machines. The indictment alleges that the operators made illegal cash payouts to persons who had played and won on the machines and that the defendants knew that the machines were being used for illegal gambling purposes, facilitated such illegal activity, and profited from it. If convicted, Jack Willis Shepherd faces a maximum statutory penalty of 5 years imprisonment and a $250,000, or both, on the conspiracy count, and a maximum statutory penalty of 5 years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine, or both, on the conducting an illegal gambling business count. However, as to all defendants in both bills of indictment, it is important to note that any sentence received upon conviction will be influenced by the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which the Court consults in order to determine each defendant’s actual sentence. Sentences are based upon a formula that takes into account the severity and characteristics of the offense and each defendant’s criminal history, if any. The second indictment (U.S. v. Shepherd, et al, Docket Number 1:07CR123) also contains a Notice of Forfeiture and Finding of Probable Cause that the defendants forfeit to the United States all of the property involved in the offenses with which they are charged in the indictment, and all property traceable to such offenses. Real property listed in the Notice of Forfeiture includes addresses in Weaverville (Buncombe County) and an address in Madison County. The forfeiture notice also specifically lists two motor vehicles. The details contained in the Shepherd illegal gambling business indictment are allegations. The defendants are presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law. Last edited on 08:10 pm by sirlamre Armed with the power of Thy name nothing can ever hurt me, and with Thy love in my heart all the world's afflictions can in no wise alarm me. |
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Lady Cop Pioneer100© Member  BAH HUMBUG
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try again to post the article? 
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sirlamre Pioneer100© Member Official Forum Troublemaker
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Now they're looking closely at all kinds of other things. One thing I've not heard much about yet was that a LOT of guns and evidence disappeared from custody under him. That will probably be back in the news though. They had to dismiss a number of cases because of chain of custody issues with evidence because of his corrupt screwups This is new though-= they're now saying he deputized a LOT of people who never should have been. Even some drug dealers! I think Ron Moore is probably just as corrupt though-- there's been a LOT of this known for years--- he could have called for SBI help at any time. ASHEVILLE — District Attorney Ron Moore said Friday that he had no evidence of gambling corruption at the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office during Bobby Medford’s 12-year tenure there. The prosecutor, like Sheriff Van Duncan, who worked for Medford as a detective before defeating him in an election last year, said he heard only “rumors and innuendo” about problems at the county’s biggest law enforcement agency. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in a 19-page indictment unsealed Thursday made sweeping allegations that Medford ran an operation that took money from illegal gambling, moving as much as $5,000 at a time through the Sheriff’s Office. Three of his deputies collected money from illegal gambling operations while in uniform, according to the indictment. Moore said he never saw anything that would give him grounds to take action. “Some of the cast of characters involved are people that have always raised red flags but nothing that you could nail down or pin down,” he said. Duncan said he also heard the same rumors but never had any proof. “All you can do is voice concerns and try to steer your boss away from some things you think are a poor course of action, and you can do that up to the point that you end up losing your job or quitting,” Duncan said. “That is pretty much the course of action that happened with me.” Fired by Medford Duncan said after Medford fired him over a disagreement about how cases were being handled, he decided to come back and remove his old boss through the political process. Those cases had nothing to do with video poker, he said. Duncan defeated Medford in November 2006. Medford, 62, kept his involvement with illegal video poker machine operators limited to an inner circle of command staff officers he trusted, according to the federal indictment. And the video poker operators paid him thousands of dollars at a time so that they could continue operating in his county, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. North Carolina made video gambling illegal in July. Businesses had been able to keep up to three machines — registered with the sheriffs — that were to reward winners with no more than $10 in store merchandise. Investigators said Medford ran an operation that collected money from businesses where machines offering cash payouts were kept in backrooms. Profitable enterprise Federal authorities said the businesses were lucrative — making as much as $10 million for one company that had machines across Western North Carolina. One machine could generate $30,000 a year, investigators have said. Federal authorities arrested Medford on Thursday on charges including using his position to commit extortion, money laundering and obstruction of state and local law enforcement. Former Lts. Ronnie “Butch” Davis, 60, and John “Johnny” Harrison, 66, and reserve Capt. Guy Kenneth Penland, 76, were also charged in the federal indictment. Each of the charges could bring a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. The men are in jail waiting for Monday court hearings when a federal judge will decide whether they will be allowed to remain free before their trials. Medford used money he extorted to fund his re-election campaign in 2006 and cover $54,000 in his own loses at Harrah’s Cherokee Casino, according to the indictment. Other video poker cases Federal authorities said they had been investigating video poker corruption in Buncombe County since 2001. The arrest of Medford and his deputies, and one of his longtime supporters, Jack W. Shepherd, follow two other high-profile video poker cases since 2006. In one, FBI agents said they found $1.8 million stashed in home of businessman Demetre Theodossis that they said came from illegal video poker machines he operated at his Hot Dog King restaurants. In the other, federal authorities alleged that Henderson Amusement Inc., a South Carolina company, made $10 million dollars through illegal payouts with hundreds of video poker machines in 15 Western North Carolina counties. Moore said the Medford case shows the need for an investigative grand jury in North Carolina. Federal authorities used an investigative grand jury in the case against Henderson Amusement. State authorities can only use that type of grand jury in drug cases, Moore said. Federal authorities also used the grand jury to develop corruption cases against former Commissioner of Agriculture Meg Scott Phipps and former House Speaker Jim Black. Call for reform “What has happened in this case, and what has happened down in Raleigh, I think points very strongly that we need some type of mechanism in state court,” Moore said. “You can subpoena records and go through it and ask people about it under oath. That is what is so important — they have to get under oath.” Some of the 21 defendants in the Henderson case were charged with lying under oath. They have all since pleaded guilty. N.C. Attorney General Roy Cooper this year called for lawmakers to pass a law that would create an investigative grand jury. The Wake County District Attorney has also supported the idea. Joe Sinsheimer, of Raleigh, a former Democratic political consultant who has called for reforms in the wake of the Black case, said Friday that lawmakers should take the calls seriously. “It is time for the General Assembly to act on this issue and prove that legislators want to fight political corruption in the state,” he said.
Armed with the power of Thy name nothing can ever hurt me, and with Thy love in my heart all the world's afflictions can in no wise alarm me. |
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Lady Cop Pioneer100© Member BAH HUMBUG
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sometimes a little power corrupts those with weak characters. it's hell for honest people in law enforcement, it reflects on everyone. i hope there will be appropriate prison sentences.
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Amy Original500© Member  ...going with the flow...
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Lady Cop wrote: sometimes a little power corrupts those with weak characters. it's hell for honest people in law enforcement, it reflects on everyone. i hope there will be appropriate prison sentences. you said a mouthful there! 
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sirlamre Pioneer100© Member Official Forum Troublemaker
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http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071217/NEWS01/71217033 Here's todays article-- NO BAIL!! The judge said he'd threatened enough people and extorted enough people to where the judge felt that he'd probably obstruct justice if he had the opportunity. Might not run-- but certainly would be sending out his minions in the Sheriff's Dept who still work there, or people who still have badges to threaten people who might testify against him. Scum... His day ended when we elected Heath Shuler (D) in a landslide over Charles Taylor (R) and elected Duncan (D) instead of relecting him (Medford (R))
Armed with the power of Thy name nothing can ever hurt me, and with Thy love in my heart all the world's afflictions can in no wise alarm me. |
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24HourForums.com > The Top 10 Supported Forums > LC's Crimes & Trials > Buncombe County ex-sheriff arrested on NINETY counts of Federal gambling charges! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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