McMaster suspends Marion County councilman charged with criminal conspiracy, receiving stolen goods

Marion County councilman Oscar Jay Foxworth was suspended from office by Gov. Henry McMaster on Friday.

The move comes after the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division charged Foxworth with criminal conspiracy and receiving fraudulently obtained goods or services.

He was one of six people in a case who were indicted Nov. 3 by a Marion County grand jury.

SLED also charged Leon Woodbury, 59; Liston Abraham Dykes II, 42; Alvin Tony Hayes, 49; and Anthony Dewayne Graves, 53; with criminal conspiracy and receiving stolen goods

The five men were charged with conspiring with Johnathan Dale Hewitt, 28, according to warrants released by SLED. Hewitt was indicted for one count of breach of trust with fraudulent intent and one count of criminal conspiracy.

Warrants describe the alleged conspiracy as taking place between March 10, 2021 and Sept. 16, 2021.

South Carolina law gives the governor the power to suspend an elected official who has been charged with a “crime of moral turpitude.”

Foxworth, who represents District 2 in Marion County, is suspended until he is either formally acquitted, convicted, or until a successor is elected and takes the oath of office, according to the order released by the governor’s office.

The case will be prosecuted by the 12th Circuit Solicitor’s Office.

Ted Clifford

The State

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Ted Clifford is the statewide accountability reporter at The State Newspaper. Formerly the crime and courts reporter, he has covered the Murdaugh saga, state and federal court, as well as criminal justice and public safety in the Midlands and across South Carolina. He is the recipient of the 2023 award for best beat reporting by the South Carolina Press Association.