Local officials before the bar of justice, two murder trials, controversy in a fire district and the collapse of a stadium wall were among the stories making headlines in Union County in 2009.

Public Officials In Trouble

For the second year in a row, Union County was forced to endure the spectacle of public officials charged with various forms of corruption.

Sentenced To Prison

In February, former Union mayor Bruce Morgan and former city building inspector Jeff Lawson learned the penalty for the crimes they pleaded guilty to the previous September. Morgan was sentenced to five years, 11 months in federal prison for conspiring to take kickbacks from contractors seeking to do business with the city while Lawson was sentenced to 12 months and one day. Morgan and Lawson were each ordered to pay $7,000 in restitution to their victims; forfeit $7,500 of the proceeds from their illegal activities to the FBI; and pay a $200 special assessment. After serving their prison sentences, Morgan and Lawson will spend three years under supervised release.

Federal Indictments

An even worse shock came in October when former Union County Supervisor Donnie Betenbaugh, former sheriff Howard Wells, former tax assessor Willie Randall Jr. and Union County residents Lapriest Darnell Beacham and Willard Dee Farr were indicted by a federal grand jury. Betenbaugh and Randall were named in a 40-count indictment with the first 15 charging them with conspiracy, extortion, soliciting and accepting bribes, money laundering, structuring financial transactions to evade federal reporting requirements and knowingly allowing the Assessor’s Office to be used to store and distribute cocaine and Hydrocodone.

The other 25 counts charge Betenbaugh with witness tampering, lying to federal agents, misprision of a felony, obstruction of justice and illegally distributing Lorazepam, a schedule IV controlled substance.

If convicted on all counts, Betenbaugh faces a maximum possible sentence of 618 years in federal prison and a fine of $13 million. Randall faces a maximum possible sentence of 100 years in federal prison and a fine of $5.25 million.

Randall, who served as tax assessor for 15 years until July, was also named in a separate indictment with Beacham. Both men are charged with conspiracy since 2007 to distribute 500 grams or more of a mixture containing methamphetamine. Beacham is also charged with three additional counts for distributing cocaine in February.

If convicted on this separate indictment, Randall faces an additional maximum possible sentence of 40 years in federal prison and a mandatory minimum fine of $2 million. Beacham faces a maximum possible sentence of 100 years in federal prison and a fine of $8 million.

Wells, who served as sheriff for 16 years before being defeated for reelection in 2008, was named in a three-count indictment charging him with lying to federal investigators and witness tampering. If convicted on all counts, Wells faces a maximum possible sentence of 45 years in federal prison and a $750,000 fine.

Farr is charged in a three-county indictment with conspiracy to commit extortion, aiding and abetting Morgan and Lawson to extort money from contractors seeking to do business with the City of Union and lying to federal investigators. If convicted on all counts, Farr faces a maximum of 45 years in federal prison and a fine of $750,000.

Clerk of Court

More bad news surfaced a week later when Union County Clerk of Court Brad Morris resigned just as a SLED audit of his office was getting under way. A little more than a month later in November Morris was arrested by a SLED agent on the charges of embezzlement of public funds and misconduct in office. Morris is charged with allegedly embezzling over $200,000 in public funds for his personal use during the first 10 months of the year.

The investigation leading to Morris’ arrest was initiated after Union County Sheriff David Taylor said he received a complaint Sept. 11 involving a $34 check from the child support account overseen by Morris. While the bank cashed the check, it reported the account to be overdrawn. Taylor became concerned there might be a potential problem with more checks so he contacted Sixteenth Circuit Solicitor Kevin Brackett to ask that SLED investigate the matter.

South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford appointed Capt. Freddie Gault of the Union Public Safety Department as clerk of court.

Public Works Director

The week before Christmas brought the county an unwanted lump of coal in its stocking with the arrest of Union County Public Works Director and Recycling Coordinator Lisa Ward for exploitation of a vulnerable adult and controlled substance theft. Ward is charged with taking the vulnerable adult to the doctor on Sept. 23 and then to a local store to have a prescription for Hydrocodone filled. Authorities allege Ward then stole Hydrocodone for her own use from the vulnerable adult.

Ward was suspended by new Union County Supervisor Tommy Sinclair who said she would remain suspended until her case is resolved. Sinclair — who also was appointed by Sanford — said that if Ward was convicted she would be terminated as a county employee.

Murder Trials

Two murder trials ending with sentences of life imprisonment without possibility of parole for a woman who pleaded guilty to murdering a cheerleader and a man who denied killing the mother of his child only to have his son contradict him also captured public attention in 2009.

Yolanda Thompson

Yolanda Thompson pleaded guilty in March 2009 to the Jan. 3, 2008, murder of 16-year-old Marisha Jeter. Her guilty plea was part of a plea bargain agreement with the state to testify against her husband, Pernell Clayton Thompson. He pleaded guilty in September and was sentenced to life imprisonment without possibility of parole.

At the time of her guilty plea, Thompson was sentenced to five years in prison on the charge of criminal conspiracy but sentencing on the other charges was delayed until after her husband’s trial. That came after an emotional hearing in which the defense, backed by Thompson’s family and friends, pleaded leniency, citing her previous lack of a criminal record and her cooperation with authorities. Thompson spoke on her own behalf as well, her appeal for a second chance often lost in her sobs.

The state countered pointing out Thompson and her husband had lured Jeter away from her home under false pretenses; repeatedly stabbed her before putting her in the trunk of their car and driving to Broad River; stripped her and put her in the river before driving to Chester County and setting their car on fire. Even more powerful testimony was delivered by Jeter’s family who told the court of how her murder had devastated them, especially her mother whose health had so deteriorated she was unable to attend the hearing. They reminded the court the Thompsons had beaten, stomped Jeter, stabbed her 33 times and cut her throat.

It was this combination of premeditation and brutality in Jeter’s murder that swayed the court and sealed Thompson’s fate.

Jamel Good

They sat and listened to five days of opening and closing statements and testimony and cross-examination by both the defense and the state, but it took jurors in the December trial of Jamel Good only 30 minutes to find him guilty of the murder of Maria Fernandez.

Good, 29, was charged with killing Fernandez who disappeared Sept. 3, 2008, after finishing her shift at Ellen Sagar Nursing . Her skeletal remains were found Jan. 7, 2009, by a utility worker beneath some power lines off Highpoint Road in the Carlisle area.

The state’s case against Good was a largely circumstantial one since definitive evidence linking Good to the site where Fernandez’s remains were found could not be produced and the lack of a murder weapon. The circumstantial nature of the case was hammered on by the defense which twice asked for a directed verdict of not guilty only to have both motions rejected by the court.

The most powerful moment of the trial came when Good’s and Fernandez’s six-year-old son took the stand and testified his father had killed his mother. The child said he’d been in his room and his parents in theirs when there was a camera flash that left his father smiling and his mother dead. He said his father then buried his mother in their backyard.

Fire District Controversy

The Kelly-Kelton Fire District was the scene of a months-long battle between a group of firefighters led by Chief Kim Hill and Assistant Chief Dennis Hill and the district’s Board of Fire Control led by chairman Hoyt Haney. The two sides were at odds over a variety of issues including the board’s administration of the district and maintenance of the department’s vehicles and the proper equipment for firefighters.

The struggle came to a head in late November when the board fired the Hills because she wrote a letter to Union County Council, the county attorney and State Rep. Mike Anthony asking the board be terminated and criminally prosecuted. Mrs. Hill said she had written a letter about what she said was the board’s violations including the members reappointing themselves without publicly advertising their board seats and failing to properly maintain the district’s equipment and supplies.

Haney countered that the board acted legally in all its actions and it had given the department everything it had asked for. The one thing the board would not agree to, however, was an increase in the tax millage which Haney said the people of the district would not support.

The firing of the Hills led to the resignation of other firefighters leaving the district with only six. This situation didn’t last long, however, as a week later replacements were appointed for the Hills and a number of new and former firefighters signed up, bringing the department’s strength up to 18.

In November, the board became the target of a lawsuit filed by former firefighter Bryan Farr who claims the board violated the Freedom of Information Act when it failed to provide him with information he’d requested. Farr, who once held the rank of captain in the department, said he’d filed the request in response to concerns by some of the district’s firefighters about the board’s administrative practices and its failures to comply with the statutes and ordinances which established the district. In his suit, Farr claims the board failed to respond to the request which he submitted Sept. 2.

Wall Collapses At Stadium

A Friday night football game in mid-November turned into an emergency when a section of a wall at the Union County Stadium collapsed, injuring 28 high school students. None of the injuries were life-threatening with the worst being a fractured collarbone.

The 20-foot section of the concrete block wall between the 10- and 20-yard lines collapsed due to a combination of factors including heavy rains over the previous week; the age of the wall which, along with the rest of the stadium was built in 1960; and the large number of people leaning against it during the game.

To avoid further collapse, a 70-foot length of fence was installed along the broken area and additional personnel were assigned to keep people from sitting or pushing on the wall. This was only a temporary measure with officials saying a long-term plan would have to be developed that would include not only replacing the wall but other long-considered improvements to the stadium.

Best Small Library

For all its problems, 2009 did bring some good news for Union County including the announcement the Union County Carnegie Library had been named Best Small Library in America for 2009 by Library Journal and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The honor included an award of $15,000 from the foundation which the library used to purchase a new telephone system and make additional improvements.

The money was badly needed as cuts in state funding and reductions in local revenues due to the ongoing economic downturn force it to close its doors periodically during the year.

Things began to look up, however, in December with an early Christmas present in the form of a $140,000 grant from the Timken Foundation. The grant will be used this year to renovate the library entrance; adult computing areas and book stacks; and to create a larger, separate teen area with computers, areas for book displays and additional work spaces. Construction is expected to be completed within 4-6 months with minimal disruption to library services.

Gestamp Comes To Union

The downturn in the economy took its toll on Union County in 2009 with unemployment exceeding 20 percent. Despite this, Union County remained attractive to international investment that brought the promise of better times.

In October, Gestamp Automocion, LLC, a Spanish-owned global stamping company, acquired LSP Automotive Systems, LLC. The acquisition included LSP’s manufacturing facility located between the H. Mac Johnston Industrial Park and Union Commerce Park off U.S. 176.

The 395,000-square-foot plant, which began production in 2007, manufactures large Class A precision body structure stampings and assemblies for the BMW plant in Greer. At the time of its acquisition by Gestamp, the plant employed 135 hourly and salaried employees but that would soon be changing.

In November, Gestamp announced it would hire an additional 40 employees over the next year to support the launch of BMW’s new X3. The new employees would work in the addition the company is building to the existing structure to accommodate the new production line.

Tornado

A tornado packing 105 mph winds destroyed mobile homes, downed trees and even damaged a textile plant in April. The tornado swept through Union County on April 10, hitting Proctor Road, T Bishop Road and Scales Mobile Home Park off Sonoco Road the hardest. The tornado was estimated to have been 350 yards wide and plowed through a four-mile-long path.

No one was killed or severely injured but several mobile homes were destroyed and dozens of trees downed. The storm even damaged Milliken & Co.’s Cedar Hill plant which was nearly empty because of the Easter holiday. One wall of the building was damaged when a shipping trailer was tossed against it and the roof was damaged, allowing a substantial amount of rain in. Despite the damage, the plant was able to resume production the Monday after the storm.