Perjury: Ex-South Congaree police chief gets 4 years probation, continues to cooperate

Former South Congaree Police Chief Jason Amodio was sentenced Wednesday to four years probation, including eight months of home confinement with electronic monitoring, for lying to a federal grand jury.

U.S. District Judge Joe Anderson accepted a plea bargain for the sentence, which Amodio had reached with federal prosecutors, in part because of his cooperation with other ongoing federal investigations, they said.

“This is a serious crime, especially for a law enforcement officer,” Anderson said during the hearing at the federal courthouse in Columbia.

But it was a first offense and a non-violent crime, so the judge let Amodio avoid prison. “I don’t think the taxpayers would be well-served by putting him in prison to the tune of $35,000 a year,” Anderson said. Amodio could have gotten a maximum five-year sentence.

The former chief expressed regret.

“I am very sorry for what I have done,” said Amodio, 47, a 22-year law enforcement veteran. “I’m ashamed of my actions. I have let down the community I’ve served.”

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jay Richardson told the judge that prosecutors agreed to the deal because Amodio continues to cooperate with law enforcement in ongoing investigations.

Asked by the judge if the investigation concerned Lexington County goings-on, Richardson declined to be specific.

In accepting the plea, Anderson noted that Amodio still faces state charges of misconduct in office. That charge is related to Amodio’s taking money from former Lexington Town Councilman Danny Frazier in exchange for providing Frazier with illegal, confiscated gaming devices, according to legal papers in the case. Amodio pleaded guilty to that in March but has not been sentenced.

Evidence in Wednesday’s case showed Amodio lied to the federal grand jury about his acceptance of a questionable $9,000 payment from an unnamed Lexington County lawyer for referring a client to the lawyer following a traffic accident in which there was a death. A check for that amount was paid to Amodio through an intermediary.

“I knew that the referral fees are unethical,” Amodio said, explaining that he lied to the grand jury to cover up his taking the money.

Toward the end of the hearing, Anderson said S.C. Supreme Court disciplinary officials should examine the actions of the unnamed lawyer who made the payment to Amodio to drum up business.

Although prosecutor Richardson told the judge the files in the case had been turned over the to Supreme Court’s lawyer disciplinary arm, called Office of Disciplinary Counsel, Anderson formally ordered that the files be turned over to that body.

And, said Anderson, as a condition of Amodio’s avoiding prison, the former chief has to “cooperate fully and completely with any investigation the ODC might have.”

A legal ethics expert has said the lawyer who gave Amodio $9,000 might have run afoul of state laws concerning legal fees. Lawyers can potentially be subject to sanctions, including disbarment, if they kick back part of a fee to someone who referred a client to them.

“To the extent it is a prearranged plan, it’s a payoff and it’s improper,” John Freeman, USC law ethics professor emeritus, said earlier this year.

In March, Richardson told Anderson that the traffic case concerned a 2011 crash that resulted in the death of one family member and injured another but did not otherwise give specifics of the wreck.

The crash presumably took place in the South Congaree area, where Amodio was chief for 11 years. South Congaree is a town of 2,300 residents near Columbia Metropolitian Airport in Lexington County.

Amodio has a job with Columbia Land Realty, lawyer Ken Mathews told the judge. It was unclear whether Amodio will stay in that job while he is confined to his house.

Amodio’s apology sat well with South Congaree Mayor Brian Jackson, who was elected after the former police chief resigned in 2013.

“He did such a great job for our community and is still respected,” Jackson said.

But Amodio caused his own downfall, the mayor said.

“Some bad choices happened,” Jackson said

This story was originally published July 15, 2015 at 10:48 AM with the headline "Perjury: Ex-South Congaree police chief gets 4 years probation, continues to cooperate."