Ex-Spartanburg SC Sheriff headed for sentencing in corruption case

Former Spartanburg County longtime Sheriff Chuck Wright, who pleaded guilty last fall to a long-running corruption scheme that defrauded the county, is scheduled to be sentenced in July.

Wright’s sentencing will take place on July 7 in federal court in Greenville before U.S. Judge Timothy Cain, according to federal court records filed Wednesday. He is expected to get a prison term.

Greg Harris, an attorney for Wright, declined comment. Wright’s other attorney is former U.S. Rep. Trey Gowdy.

Wright, who is approximately 60 years old, has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit theft concerning programs receiving federal funds, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and obtaining controlled substances by misrepresentation.

Wright served as the sheriff from about 2005 until May 2025. He had become a deputy in 1986 and was elected sheriff in 2004.

In all, Wright faces a maximum total prison sentence of 29 years behind bars. He is unlikely to get that severe a sentence. However, judges have the option of tacking on more time than usual if the defendant has betrayed public trust, as Wright has done.

According to evidence in his case, Wright and another sheriff’s department staffer, Amos Durham, siphoned money for years from a fund meant to provide emotional and financial support to officers undergoing difficult times. Durham has also pleaded guilty to charges of stealing money from a program that receives federal funds. He has not yet been sentenced.

Wright also hired another person, Lawson Watson, and paid him as a full-time sheriff’s department staffer from 2021 to 2025, although he did not do any work. Watson has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Watson has not yet been sentenced.

Wright also obtained 147 pills of oxycodone and hydrocodone from an individual who believed the then-sheriff would destroy them. But Wright then converted the pills to his own use, according to evidence.

The case was investigated by the FBI Columbia Field Office and the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division. Assistant U.S. Attorney Lothrop Morris is prosecuting the case.

Wright’s office received federal funds of at least $10,000 each year, a fact that gave federal authorities jurisdiction in his case.

More than a dozen South Carolina sheriffs have been convicted of various crimes since 2010.