Companies say they weren’t trying to buy SC legislator’s influence

Three private companies and a tourism agency named in the 30-count indictment of state Rep. Jim Merrill say their payments to the Berkeley County Republican were not meant to buy his influence in the S.C. Legislature.

But a government watchdog cautioned that is the only answer the groups can give without risking being charged under S.C. anti-bribery laws.

Prosecutors say Merrill used his position in the S.C. House to illegally pocket at least $1.3 million, much of it from the three companies and the tourism agency.

But those groups say they paid the now-suspended legislator for his public relations and marketing expertise.

▪ An attorney for the Charleston Area Convention and Visitors Bureau said Merrill’s business was paid to write promotional materials for tourism publications.

▪ New Jersey-based bus contractor Student Transportation of America says it paid Merrill to market its business to school districts across the Southeast.

▪ Infilaw, a Florida-based company that runs for-profit law schools and attempted to buy the Charleston School of Law, says it hired Merrill for his “public relations and policy support in the Charleston area.”

▪ The chief executive of Savannah-based Thomas & Hutton Engineering says his firm hired Merrill as a public relations consultant during the 2008 economic downturn.

Prosecutors contend the four entities together paid Merrill $534,178 in exchange for policy favors, including sponsoring legislation.

The indictment also alleges another group, the S.C. Association of Realtors, paid Merrill $391,175 for his public influence. The real estate group did not respond to requests for comment.

The entities have no choice but to deny the allegations, S.C. ethics watchdog John Crangle said. Private companies or individuals can be charged under state and federal bribery laws if they attempt to buy a public official’s influence, he said.

“I’m skeptical of interest groups that go to public officials and hire them to do some kind of work when there is a reasonable expectation that public official will do something in his public office that will give an advantage to a person who is paying him,” Crangle said.

But the companies say the payments were not made to gain an advantage.

Charleston Visitors Bureau

The $283,693 that prosecutors say Merrill’s business received from the Charleston Area Convention and Visitors Bureau was for work on golf publications, visitor guides and other projects, according to Blair Jennings, a North Charleston attorney representing the bureau.

Prosecutors say Merrill laundered $148,693 paid to his business, Geechie Communications, by the tourism agency from April 2012 to August 2014 through his brother’s company while the Berkeley Republican was on a S.C. House’s budget-writing subcommittee. At the time, Merrill chaired a House subcommittee that oversaw the budget for the state parks and tourism department, which provides money to the Charleston Visitors Bureau.

Later, from October 2014 to October 2016, Merrill was paid $135,000 by the tourism agency, prosecutors say.

However, Jennings said the tourism agency did not hire Merrill to sway decisions related to its budget.

Instead, the Visitors Bureau hired experts to do needed work, the lawyer said. “Over this time period, we’ve used six to 10 consultants for various projects that fell outside the expertise of people on staff at the CVB.”

Student Transportation of America

Prosecutors also accused Merrill of accepting $172,486 from Student Transportation of America in exchange for lobbying for the bus contractor.

Prosecutors say Merrill received monthly payments of $3,000 starting in May 2011. In January 2012, they allege the legislator sponsored a bill regarding privatization of S.C. school buses, most operated by the state.

In an emailed statement, Student Transportation said the $3,000 payments were for Merrill’s help creating presentations and proposals the company planned to submit to school districts across the Southeast. Merrill’s company also helped with marketing “to as many as eight states during the time period he was retained,” Student Transportation said.

“At no time did we hire him to act as a lobbyist on behalf of STA,” the company said. Merrill’s school bus privatization bill, which failed to pass, “to STA’s knowledge, was not presented due to any lobbying efforts on behalf of STA.”

Infilaw

Prosecutors say Merrill’s business was paid $35,000 from Infilaw from January 2014 through June 2014.

That was about the same time that Infilaw was attempting to buy the Charleston School of Law, and prosecutors allege the payments were in exchange for influencing government decisions involving that purchase.

In an emailed statement, Infilaw denied that charge, saying it never hired Merrill or his firm to lobby.

The company, which said it is cooperating with investigators, also said it withdrew its request to buy the law school before Merrill became chairman of a House subcommittee on higher education.

Thomas & Hutton Engineering

Prosecutors allege Merrill was paid roughly $43,000 in exchange for using his legislative position to help Thomas & Hutton Engineering, a Savannah-based firm with offices in Columbia, Charleston, Myrtle Beach and Greenville.

The firm’s president, Sam McCachern, says Merrill was hired from 2008-2010 as a public relations consultant, not as a lobbyist.

McCachern said he had not read the indictment and would not comment further. “We will cooperate with law enforcement officials as this matter progresses.”

This story was originally published December 16, 2016 at 7:38 PM with the headline "Companies say they weren’t trying to buy SC legislator’s influence."