Sheriff Chuck Wright: Federal Charges, Schemes, and Sentencing

Former Spartanburg County, South Carolina Sheriff Charles “Chuck” Wright pleaded guilty on October 30, 2025 to three federal charges tied to a public corruption scheme, and he faces 33 to 41 months in federal prison at a sentencing hearing set for July 7, 2026. The charges and sentencing exposure for Sheriff Chuck Wright cover embezzlement from a deputies’ benevolence fund, a wire fraud conspiracy built around a no-show job for his cousin, and obtaining prescription painkillers by misrepresentation.¹²

The Three Federal Charges

Wright appeared before Chief U.S. District Judge Timothy M. Cain in the District of South Carolina and pleaded guilty to:

Conspiracy to commit theft concerning programs receiving federal funds, which carries a maximum of five years in prison.
Conspiracy to commit wire fraud, which carries a maximum of 20 years in prison.
Obtaining controlled substances by misrepresentation, which carries a maximum of four years in prison.

Each count also carries a potential fine of up to $250,000, three years of supervised release, and mandatory restitution. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lothrop Morris.¹

What the Schemes Involved

The investigation opened with an anonymous tip about a no-show job held by Wright’s cousin. A county audit confirmed the tip, and the FBI and the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division took over.³

The Benevolence Fund

The Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office Chaplain’s Benevolence Fund was a nonprofit meant to help deputies through bereavement, financial hardship, and traumatic events. Federal prosecutors alleged Wright took more than $89,000 in cash and over $5,000 in checks from the fund between 2018 and 2025, spending it on personal travel, hotels, restaurants, and controlled substances. Fund policy prohibited cash withdrawals, which Wright ignored. Prosecutors said at least one deputy’s family was denied assistance because the fund had been depleted. Former department chaplain Amos Durham, the fund’s director, participated in the scheme going back to at least 2017.¹⁴

The No-Show Job

Wright’s cousin, Lawson B. Watson, was hired by the sheriff’s office in March 2005. From January 2021 through March 2025, Watson certified on his timesheets that he was working full time in the civil division, but witnesses confirmed he rarely showed up. Watson collected approximately $349,885 in salary and benefits for work he did not perform, and prosecutors alleged he used county resources for his own private paving and grading business.⁵

The Pill Scheme

Between May and September 2023, Wright obtained 147 oxycodone and hydrocodone pills from a shooting victim by falsely claiming the pills were being collected for the sheriff’s office “take back” drug disposal program. He kept them for personal use. Prosecutors described a broader pattern in which Wright purchased pills from street-level dealers, sometimes in the sheriff’s office parking lot, and pressured employees to give him prescription medication.¹³

Credit Card Misuse

Federal prosecutors put Wright’s misuse of his county-issued credit card at $16,412.80. State ethics investigators later itemized the purchases: more than $5,000 on restaurant meals, over $1,300 on mobile games through the Apple App Store, 92 packs of cigarettes at Dollar General, an iPad from Best Buy, subscriptions to Apple Music and PureFlix, and an at-home drug test kit from CVS.³⁶

Sentencing Range, Restitution, and Civil Exposure

Wright will be sentenced on July 7, 2026 before Judge Cain at the federal courthouse in Greenville. Both sides agreed the appropriate loss amount for guideline calculations is $228,240, producing an advisory range of 33 to 41 months.⁷

Total restitution is set at $462,866.06: $112,980.84 tied to the benevolence fund and credit card theft, and $349,885.22 tied to the wage fraud. As of June 2026, Wright had paid $28,240 toward the total.⁵ Separately, Spartanburg County has filed a civil suit seeking over $1.3 million from Wright, Durham, and Watson. That figure combines the restitution amounts with $744,558 in compensation paid to Wright between 2022 and 2025 and $182,953 in election costs the county incurred to replace him.⁸

The Fight Over the Sentence

On June 23, 2026, Wright’s attorneys filed a memorandum requesting a sentence below the guidelines. They argued his crimes were driven by a prescription painkiller addiction and undiagnosed PTSD from years of traumatic law enforcement work, noted that he voluntarily entered inpatient treatment before charges were filed, has remained sober for more than 16 months, and has permanently surrendered his law enforcement certifications. They cited sentences given to other South Carolina sheriffs convicted of misconduct and argued the guideline range would be “at or above the highest ever given” in such cases in the state.⁹

Federal prosecutors responded the next day with a 14-page filing opposing leniency. They argued Wright’s position as an elected sheriff made his conduct more serious, not less, and that his schemes were more egregious than the comparison cases the defense cited. Prosecutors are asking for a sentence within the 33-to-41-month range and full restitution.⁴

Co-Defendants

Durham and Watson pleaded guilty the same day as Wright. Durham pleaded to one count of conspiracy to commit theft from programs receiving federal funds; Watson pleaded to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.¹ Both are scheduled for sentencing on July 9, 2026. Durham faces 6 to 12 months and has agreed to pay $95,442 in restitution. Watson faces 10 to 16 months and has agreed to pay the full $349,885.⁵

State Ethics Charges

Separate from the federal case, the South Carolina State Ethics Commission filed 65 ethics charges against Wright. Sixty-three concern personal purchases on his county credit card. The other two arose from the July 2024 hiring of his son as a deputy, which the commission found constituted nepotism in probable violation of state code 8-13-750(a), the provision prohibiting public officials from hiring immediate family members they supervise. His son has since resigned.¹⁰¹¹ A formal hearing was scheduled for February 19, 2026 in Columbia, though the Ethics Commission could defer the matter to the 10th Circuit Solicitor. The state solicitor has indicated that no additional state criminal charges will be pursued against Wright, Durham, or Watson beyond the federal case.⁸

How Wright Left Office

Wright took an abrupt leave of absence on April 1, 2025, citing “circumstances beyond my control.” He returned on May 16, 2025 after local officials threatened to stop his pay, then resigned one week later on May 23, telling Governor Henry McMaster he had received a “recent health diagnosis.”¹² McMaster appointed Jeffery F. Stephens as interim sheriff.¹³ Republican Bill Rhyne won a special primary runoff in August 2025 with 73 percent of the vote and ran unopposed in November to fill the remainder of Wright’s term.¹⁴

1
U.S. Department of Justice. Former Spartanburg County Sheriff, 2 Employees Plead Guilty in Public Corruption Scheme
2
Fox Carolina. New Documents Reveal Sentencing Range for Ex-Spartanburg Co. Sheriff Chuck Wright
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WYFF. Former Sheriff Chuck Wright Drug Addiction Sentencing
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Fox Carolina. US Attorney Files Scathing Motion After Chuck Wright Defense Requests Leniency
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WSPA. Chuck Wright Prison Term Guidelines
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Fox Carolina. Ethics Commission: Sheriff Spent Taxpayer Money on Cigarettes, Games
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Spartanburg Herald-Journal. Chuck Wright Full Sentence Prosecutors
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Spectrum News. South Carolina Chuck Wright
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WYFF. Spartanburg Sheriff Chuck Wright Seeks Lighter Sentence
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WYFF. SC Spartanburg Sheriff Misuse County Funds
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Post and Courier. SC Ethics Chuck Wright Investigation Probable Cause
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Fox Carolina. Doc Sheds Light on State Investigation Into Former Sheriff Chuck Wright
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Office of the Governor of South Carolina. Gov. Henry McMaster Appoints Spartanburg County Sheriff Following Resignation
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Spectrum News. Results: Spartanburg County Special Election Runoff