Abbeville County Sheriff Goodwin Indicted by State Grand Jury

Charged with Misconduct in Office

(COLUMBIA, S.C. – January 15, 2013)   South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson announced the State Grand Jury today returned an indictment against Abbeville County Sheriff Charles Goodwin.  He was charged with one (1) count of Misconduct in Office. 

The offense is a misdemeanor, punishable by up to ten (10) years in prison.

The indictment alleges Goodwin demanded and received cash “kickbacks” from county funds paid to a local auto body repair shop from on or about January 1998 until November 2011, and used the services of a South Carolina Department of Corrections inmate to work on personal vehicles and property belonging to Goodwin and his family.     

The case will be prosecuted by the Attorney General’s Office.

A hearing is scheduled for 12:00 p.m. on Friday, January 18, 2013 in the Greenville County General Sessions Court at the Greenville County Courthouse.

Attorney General Wilson stressed all defendants are presumed innocent unless and until they are proven guilty in a court of law.