AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – An Augustan is reacting to allegations against a former official in South Carolina who plagiarized parts of a book she co-authored with him.

Becky Hill, the former Colleton County clerk of court who served during the Alex Murdaugh murder trial is accused of 76 ethics violations, according to documents from the State Ethics Commission.

Neil Gordon, publisher of the Augusta Business Daily, co-authored a book with Hill on the Alex Murdaugh murder case.

One complaint against Hill alleges she provided confidential information in the form of a photograph of an inmate in a Colleton County Courthouse holding cell to promote the sale of a book and filmed a promotional segment with the Walterboro Chamber of Commerce president for her book in her office at the courthouse, documents state.

A second complaint alleges 74 ethics violations, including 71 counts of use of her official position for financial gain, two counts of use of her official position for financial gain for business with which she is associated and one count of use or disclosure of confidential information.

The count involving the disclosure of confidential information alleges she provided someone with whom she was associated a photograph of an inmate in the courthouse’s holding cell. It is not clear whether that was the same incident alleged in the other complaint or was a separate one.

The two counts of use of her official position for the financial gain of a business with which she was associated allege she authorized checks that were issued to a business with which she was associated for a total of $750.

Of the remaining 71 counts of use of official position for financial gain in the second complaint, she is accused of directing payments be made to reimburse her for the purchase of items that included meals for herself and guests, drinks, snacks, gifts for clerk of court and courtroom employees; office decor; and birthday gifts and meals for family members.

She’s also accused of diverting DSS child support incentive funds to give herself multiple bonus checks that total $9,880. Laura Hayes, her former deputy clerk, texted her asking about this saying “[you] don’t need to go to jail for une

Gordon, Hill’s co-author on “Behind The Doors of Justice: The Murdaugh Murders,” issued the following statement about the South Carolina Ethics Commission’s allegations:

“My wife Melissa and I spoke to ethics commission investigators for several hours about our business relationship with Becky. They were very interested in the picture she texted us of Alex Murdaugh in his jail cell. This morning, the lead investigator informed us we may be called to testify at the December hearing. We are ready and willing to do so if called.”

He said he wrote this in his new book, “Trial Watchers”:

Melissa and I both signed affidavits that we received the photo from Becky Hill, but she did not instruct us to place the photo on social media or in Behind the Doors of Justice.

This author decided to post the photo on Facebook in late May / early June 2023, but after concerns about how the photo was acquired, privacy issues, and so on, it was not placed in the book.

We turned over our text messages related to conversations between Becky and the Gordons. Though it appears she did violate her code of conduct in utilizing her position to acquire and send a protected photo, it is unlikely any serious action will be taken because she had no intent to utilize the photo to earn money’

“The truth is Becky told me to take the picture down after I posted it to social media,” Gordon said. “Ethics investigators told us that’s an important distinction because the law clearly states a violation occurred only if the public official’s intent was to misuse her position for economic gain.”

He continued: “We continue to vehemently deny allegations Becky gave my wife special treatment, allowing her to skip the line of trial watchers to take pictures in the courthouse. As we’ve stated before, Melissa only attended the trial for a few days, didn’t take pictures inside the courthouse during the trial, and didn’t meet Becky until it was nearly over.”

He said that up until Dec. 22, 2023, he had fiercely defended Hill’s integrity and character.

“That’s when I discovered her deception in plagiarizing a full chapter of our book. Her major lapse in judgment makes me wonder if she was worthy of the public trust. Often in these cases, the truth is somewhere in the middle,” Gordon said.

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AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – The business that’s used as the Burke County Sheriff’s Office auto shop was raided by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Last year, the I-TEAM conducted an investigation of Burke County Sheriff Alfonzo Williams’ connection to the owner of the business, Daniel Cates.

Cates Firestone had already been at the center of a federal investigation.

Cates and Grady Brandon Mobley pleaded guilty in a decades-long illegal gambling operation — where hundreds of thousands of dollars in winnings were illegally funneled through businesses, including $250,000 funneled through Cates Firestone.

Cates was sentenced to three years of probation. Mobley was sentenced to five years of probation and ordered to pay more than $200,000 in restitution.

Now, Cates finds himself headed back to court after this most recent search of his business.

Court records show Mobley violated his probation on May 2 for using and possessing alcohol – along with getting arrested.

The I-TEAM obtained federal court documents and found Williams was a character witness for Mobley, lobbying for a lesser sentence and calling him a “model citizen.”

Campaign records show both the Mobley and Cates families were big contributors to Williams’ campaign for sheriff.

U.S. Probation Services and ATF conducted a search of Cates’ Burke County residence and at Cates Firestone, 508 W. Sixth St. in Waynesboro on May 29.

Authorities haven’t released information about what they were looking for in the recent ATF raid. The I-TEAM has requested search warrants from federal court, but they are not public record yet.

But a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office said Cates is scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court on Wednesday for a probation revocation hearing.

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AUGUSTA, Ga. – Mid-May brought a stunning display of the Northern Lights to much of the world with reports of the aurora visible in all of the lower 48 states in the U.S. – and across the CSRA.

The sunspot responsible for the impressive solar flares was at just the right location to send the energy toward the Earth, resulting in a G5 geomagnetic storm.

This storm was the biggest since 2003 and triggered a stunning and widespread view of the Northern Lights.

The sunspot turned away from the Earth for just over two weeks and is now reappearing on the eastern edge of the sun. The sun rotates on an average of 27 days so active sunspots are typically visible from Earth for around two weeks before facing away from Earth.

Right now, the European Space Agency’s Solar Orbiter is sitting on the opposite of the sun from Earth, giving solar scientists the ability to monitor the far side of the sun.

This gives us a special treat as the active sunspot was able to be tracked, even when hidden from Earth’s view. The sunspot has been less active recently but it’s too early to say if this trend will continue.

Now that the sunspot is back in view, over the next two weeks, any solar flares from this region may reach Earth.

However, it’s the coronal mass ejections or CMEs scientists are watching for to trigger the Northern Lights.

For one to have the best odds of reaching Earth, it would need to erupt around June 4-6, when the sunspot is the prime location. This 27 days, a full solar rotation since the mid-May solar flares. This is when we have the best odds of getting a geomagnetic storm and seeing the Northern Lights pushed further south again.

Keep in mind, the aurora event in May was a rare occurrence.

It was the first G5 geomagnetic storm in 21 years. So the likelihood of a repeat performance so close behind is not terribly high.

But even more common G3 to G4 storms could still allow for the Northern Lights to appear low on the horizon in parts of the Carolinas.

And we are in a solar maximum the rest of the year into 2025, so the possibility of more impressive aurora events remains for a while.

You can check out the latest Northern Lights forecast with our tracker right here: https://www.foxcarolina.com/page/northern-lights-tracker/

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