COLOMBIA (AP) – The vice president of the county council that governs the area of the capital of South Carolina has been indicted on charges of public corruption, which include allegations that she used a government credit card to charge thousands of dollars in trips, including a trip to Greece.
Last Thursday, the State Grand Jury issued a 24-count indictment against Richland County Council vice president Dalhi Myers, accusing her of also using public money to shop at Sam’s Club, Staples, Verizon and Barnes & Noble, buying Godiva chocolates, Slim Jims and financing repairs of personal cell phones.
On the personal trip to Greece, Myers said he was obtaining information on sewage systems, prosecutors said.
Myers also used his county card for a trip to New Jersey to “chase” the NBA Hall of Fame Magic Johnson and former NFL player Richard Seymour, prosecutor Creighton Waters said in court on Friday.
Myers, a lawyer, invented explanations for the purchases, eventually filling out a $ 27,000 fraudulent check to try to repay the county, but using an account she knew she didn’t have enough money for, authorities said.
Myers was released without having to post bail on Friday. A judge ordered her to return all equipment owned by the county.
During the 2020 presidential cycle, in the fierce competition for support among Democrats before South Carolina’s first primaries in South Carolina, Myers attracted media attention by shifting his endorsement from Joe Biden to Bernie Sanders, telling the Associated Press that he saw Sanders as the best choice to go toe-to-toe with President Donald Trump in the general election.
In July, Richland County sheriff Leon Lott launched a criminal investigation into allegations that county officials had spent public money incorrectly on their government credit cards. In July, Myers said he had nothing to hide and “voluntarily met with the police”.
Myers also faces an ethics charge related to allegations that she spent money wrongly from her 2016 campaign account on a legal subscription service.
Myers, 52, was first elected to the county council in 2016 in a special election to replace Kelvin Washington, who was removed from office after pleading guilty to not filing income tax returns.
Myers lost his candidacy for re-election this year and was scheduled to step down when his term expires on December 31. On Friday, Governor Henry McMaster suspended her and appointed Cheryl D. English, who won the seat this year, to take up her position early.