A former South Carolina sheriff is expected to plead guilty Thursday to federal charges that he stole from his force’s benevolence fund and took pain medication that was supposed to be destroyed as part of a pill take-back program.

Former Spartanburg County Sheriff Chuck Wright signed a plea agreement last month with federal prosecutors on charges of conspiring to commit theft concerning programs receiving federal funds and conspiring to commit wire fraud and obtaining controlled substances through misrepresentation. He is scheduled to appear Thursday morning at the federal courthouse in Anderson.

Wright will be at least the 12th sheriff in South Carolina to be convicted or plead guilty to on-duty crimes in the past 15 years for misconduct ranging from extorting drug dealers to having inmates work at their homes to hiring a woman and then pressuring her to have sex.

Sheriffs run the law enforcement organizations in the state’s 46 counties. South Carolina law gives the elected officials wide latitude over how their money is spent, what crimes their agencies concentrate on stopping and who gets hired and fired. They also provide little oversight beyond a vote by the people of each county every four years.

Beyond abusing power, there is little in common among the convicted sheriffs. They’ve been in small rural agencies and big, urban ones. There was a scheme to create false police reports to help clients of a friend’s credit repair business. A sheriff took bribes to keep a restaurant owner’s employees from being deported. One covered up an illegal arrest. And another punched a woman in the face and stole her cellphone.

In Wright’s case, the former sheriff plundered the fund meant to help deputies who face financial difficulties, including once saying he needed cash to send an officer to Washington to honor a deputy killed in the line of duty. Instead the money went in his own pocket, federal prosecutors said.

Most of Wright’s crimes happened as he dealt with an addiction to painkillers. In addition to the drugs he took from pill take-back program, Wright also got a blank check from the benevolence fund and used it to pay for oxycodone and hydrocodone pills, writing it out his dealer, according to court records.

Wright also faces more than 60 charges of ethics violations for using his county-issued credit card for personal expenses. In all, there was more than $50,000 in disputed spending, including more than $1,300 he allegedly spent at Apple’s app store and almost $1,600 he paid for Sirius/XM radio, according to court records.

Wright agreed to plead guilty in federal court to conspiracy to commit theft concerning programs receiving federal funds, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and obtaining controlled substances through misrepresentation. He is scheduled to appear Thursday morning at the courthouse in Anderson.

The maximum penalty for all three counts combined is nearly 30 years, although Wright will likely receive a much lighter sentence. He also will have to pay at least $440,000 in restitution. A sentencing date has not been set.

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WCBD) – Jermaine Johnson, a Democratic state lawmaker who’s been openly exploring a bid for higher office for months, is officially entering the 2026 race for governor of South Carolina.

Johnson formed an exploratory committee in May, arguing then that the state was at a crossroads and in need of leadership that “listens, leads with integrity, and puts people before politics.”

The state lawmaker is expected to make his campaign official during a Tuesday evening event on the steps of the Statehouse.

In a launch video posted to social media Tuesday morning, Johnson described himself as a “different kind of Democrat,” referencing his defeat of a longtime incumbent in the 2020 Democratic Primary for House District 80.

“Five years ago, when I looked and saw the same politicians get the same results, I knew I had to do something,” he says in the video. “So I took on my own party and I won. Big.”

“Because we got to call out Democrats when they aren’t getting the job done,” he continued. “Same thing for Republicans.”

Since his election, Johnson has become a prominent voice in the state’s Democratic coalition, often drawing on personal experiences to shape his arguments on the House floor.

His life’s story, from growing up homeless and losing his brother to gun violence to becoming a College of Charleston basketball star and eventually rising to political power, was chronicled in a documentary released last November.

The primary for the first open governor’s race in more than a decade will be held next June. Gov. Henry McMaster is unable to run again due to term limits.

Johnson is the second Democrat to throw his hat in the ring behind Charleston attorney Mullins McLeod, who launched his bid over the summer.

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Five candidates are seeking the Republican nomination: Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette, State. Sen. Josh Kimbrell, U.S. Reps. Nancy Mace and Ralph Norman, and Attorney General Alan Wilson.

Whoever wins the Democratic nomination will be a decided underdog in the general election, as a Republican has won every gubernatorial race in South Carolina since 2002.

This story is developing and may be updated.