Chuck Wright of Spartanburg: Plea, Restitution, and Sentencing

Former Spartanburg County Sheriff Chuck Wright pleaded guilty on October 30, 2025, to three federal charges: conspiracy to commit theft from a program receiving federal funds, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and obtaining controlled substances by misrepresentation. He faces a federal sentencing guideline range of 33 to 41 months in prison and has agreed to $462,866.06 in restitution. Sentencing before Chief U.S. District Judge Timothy M. Cain is scheduled for July 7, 2026, at the Carroll A. Campbell Jr. Federal Courthouse in Greenville.¹²

What Wright Admitted To

Stealing From the Deputies’ Benevolence Fund

The Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office Chaplain’s Benevolence Fund is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit set up in 2002 to help deputies facing personal hardship. It was funded mainly by an annual golf tournament that brought in $10,000 to $15,000 a year. Prosecutors said Wright, working with department chaplain Amos Durham, took more than $89,000 in unauthorized cash withdrawals for personal travel, hotels, and meals. In one instance cited by the government, a deputy whose wife was in hospice care for cancer was denied assistance because Wright had depleted the fund.³

Wright also used blank checks from the benevolence fund to pay for prescription painkillers, writing the checks to his dealer while claiming they were payments to a confidential informant.⁴ U.S. Attorney Bryan Stirling said, “Stealing from a fund that’s supposed to benefit law enforcement families in their darkest hours is not something that can be condoned.”⁵

A No-Show Job for a Cousin

The wire fraud count centers on Lawson B. Watson, Wright’s cousin, who had worked at the sheriff’s office since 2005. From at least January 2021 through March 2025, Watson certified full-time hours on his timesheets while doing no actual work for the department, according to prosecutors. The government’s sentencing memorandum put Watson’s total salary and benefits over that stretch at nearly $350,000 and said Watson used county resources for his own paving and grading business. Prosecutors described the arrangement as an “open secret” among employees who feared crossing the sheriff.³

Obtaining Painkillers by Deception

Between May and September 2023, Wright obtained 147 pills of oxycodone and hydrocodone from an individual by falsely claiming the pills were bound for a department drug take-back program. He kept them for personal use.¹⁶⁷³

Restitution and the Sentencing Fight

Wright and prosecutors agreed on $462,866.06 in restitution, of which Wright had already paid $28,240 toward the Spartanburg County Foundation as of June 2026. He also relinquished his law enforcement certifications as part of the resolution.⁸⁹

Wright’s attorneys filed a motion for a downward variance, asking Judge Cain to go below the 33-to-41-month guideline range in favor of substance-abuse treatment, mental-health counseling, random drug testing, community service, and supervised release. They noted that Wright has no prior criminal history, sought treatment for opioid addiction before charges were filed, and had remained sober for more than 16 months. Psychologist Donna Maddox diagnosed Wright with post-traumatic stress disorder tied to years of law enforcement work, and the defense connected his addiction to multiple surgeries and job-related trauma.¹⁰¹¹

Prosecutors pushed back in a forceful sentencing memorandum. They called the conduct a “years-long pattern of corruption” rather than a lapse driven by addiction and argued a guideline-range sentence was needed to “restore the public’s trust.” The memo stated: “When a public official uses his office and authority to commit a crime, the public understandably loses confidence in government.” While acknowledging Wright’s sobriety since the investigation began, the government said “the law applies equally to all.”³

The Two Co-Defendants

Amos Durham, 61, the department chaplain who directed the Benevolence Fund, pleaded guilty the same day to conspiracy to commit theft from a program receiving federal funds. That charge carries a maximum of five years. Durham gave Wright a blank check from the fund that was used to buy prescription drugs. In April 2026 he requested more time to review his presentence report, and no sentencing date had been set.¹¹²

Lawson B. Watson, 63, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, which carries a maximum of 20 years. He had not been sentenced as of mid-2026.¹

Separate State Ethics Charges

The South Carolina State Ethics Commission brought 65 charges against Wright on a separate track from the federal case. Sixty-three of them alleged personal use of a county credit card, totaling $16,412.80 between November 2020 and October 2024. The itemized spending included 92 packs of cigarettes from Dollar General, more than $1,300 in Apple App Store game purchases, over $5,000 in restaurant charges, electronics from Best Buy including an iPad, and an at-home drug test kit from CVS.¹³ The remaining two charges alleged nepotism, specifically that Wright failed to recuse himself from hiring his son as a deputy in July 2024. A formal hearing was scheduled for February 2026 in Columbia.¹⁴

How the Case Came Together

In September 2024, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division opened an investigation into Wright’s use of a county credit card for personal purchases dating back to 2018. Around the same time, FBI agents began questioning people about nepotism and county spending inside the sheriff’s office.¹⁵¹⁶ Wright, who had been sheriff since 2005, went on medical leave on April 1, 2025, and resigned on May 23, 2025. State Senator Josh Kimbrell and the South Carolina Attorney General’s office confirmed the resignation was driven by the investigations.¹⁷¹⁸¹⁹

Wright was charged by criminal Information rather than by grand jury indictment, and pleaded guilty on October 30, 2025. The FBI’s Columbia Field Office and SLED handled the investigation jointly.¹

Spartanburg County Wants More

Spartanburg County filed a victim impact statement seeking about $1.31 million from Wright and his co-defendants, well beyond the federal restitution figure. The county’s total includes $744,558.59 in salary paid to Wright from 2022 to 2025 (the county argues he could not perform his duties with the necessary “cognitive clarity” while addicted to opioids and stealing from public accounts), $349,885 in compensation to Watson for work never done, $28,240 taken from the Benevolence Fund, and $182,953.28 in election costs to fill the vacancy after Wright’s resignation. The county also cited uncalculated costs for hiring bonuses and overtime tied to morale and staffing problems during the scandal.²⁰ The county has also filed a separate civil lawsuit against Wright seeking taxpayer reimbursement.²¹

1
U.S. Department of Justice. Former Spartanburg County Sheriff, 2 Employees Plead Guilty to Public Corruption Scheme
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Goupstate. Chuck Wright Full Sentence Prosecutors
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FOX Carolina. US Attorney Files Scathing Motion After Chuck Wright Defense Requests Leniency
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FOX Carolina. Former Spartanburg County Sheriff Indicted on Federal Charges
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Spectrum News. South Carolina News: Chuck Wright Guilty
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South Carolina Public Radio. Former South Carolina Sheriff to Plead Guilty to Drug-Related Crimes, Stealing From Benevolence Fund
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WYFF. Former Sheriff Chuck Wright Drug Addiction Sentencing
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WSPA. Chuck Wright Prison Term Guidelines
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Spectrum News. South Carolina: Chuck Wright Restitution
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WYFF. Spartanburg Sheriff Chuck Wright Seeks Lighter Sentence
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Goupstate. Spartanburg Sheriff Chuck Wright Treatment, Reduced Sentence
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FOX Carolina. Co-Defendant in Ex-Spartanburg Sheriff Case Seeks More Time Before Sentencing
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FOX Carolina. Ethics Commission: Sheriff Spent Taxpayer Money on Cigarettes, Games
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WYFF. SC Spartanburg Sheriff Misuse of County Funds
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WYFF. FBI, SLED Investigation Into Former Sheriff Chuck Wright
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FOX Carolina. FOX Carolina Investigates: Chuck Wright Episode 4 — Getting It Wright
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WSPA. Spartanburg County Sheriff Chuck Wright Resigns
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The Post and Courier. Spartanburg SC Sheriff Chuck Wright Resigns
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Spectrum News. Results: Spartanburg County Special Election Runoff
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FOX Carolina. Victim Impact Statement: Spartanburg County Says Chuck Wright Case Cost Taxpayers $1.31M
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Goupstate. Spartanburg County Sheriff Chuck Wright Sued Over Taxpayer Money