The South Carolina State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) released warrants this week in connection with Monday’s arrest of a political adviser from the state’s interior Tyler Hoover.
The media reported exclusively on the SLED investigation in Hoover last March – and broke the news of his arrest this week in connection with the charges arising from that investigation.
To recap: Hoover is facing two counts of breach of trust (greater than $ 2,000 but less than $ 10,000), two counts of forgery and one charge of obtaining property under false pretenses in connection with the SLED probe.
According to the probable cause statements accompanying the arrest warrants, between May 1, 2019 and March 10, 2020 Hoover falsified the name of his then client – former deputy director of the U.S. Secret Service AT “Tommy” Smith – with an employment contract.
Hoover is also accused of not paying campaign suppliers $ 3,286.36 for the services they provided to Smith’s campaign for Greenville County sheriff – and fraud WYFF TV-4 (NBC – Greenville / Spartanburg) $ 2,975 misrepresenting yourself as an employee of another political consulting firm.
“Tyler Hoover didn’t just steal money from the victims, he stole opportunities,” Smith told this media on Tuesday. “I am also convinced that he provided campaign information to our opponents.”
To his credit, Smith took responsibility for his decision to hire Hoover Strategies to run your 2020 campaign.
“I take responsibility and apologize to everyone that Hoover has negatively affected while working on my campaign, as I heard numerous complaints after the election,” he said.
Another statement on a counterfeiting charge accused Hoover of falsifying a check on the former House of Representatives candidate’s campaign account Brandi Holcombe.
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(Via: Provided)
Regular readers will remember Holcombe (above) announced its intention to run for SC House District 21 (.pdf) when it appeared that the acting rep – Bobby Cox – was in line to become director of the newly created Department of Veterans Affairs of SC (SCDVA).
Due to an embarrassing oversight by the governor’s administration Henry McMasterhowever, Cox was determined to be ineligible for the nomination – which led him to seek another term in the Chamber of SC.
In addition to allegedly falsifying a Holcombe campaign check, statements of probable cause accused him of “making a debit card purchase for your company without authorization” in the amount of $ 2,500 of the Holcombe campaign account sometime between January 17 and January 31, 2020.
Sought to comment, Holcombe told us that the charges against Hoover “spoke for themselves”. She reiterated that she was still interested in entering public service “at some point in the future”, adding that she believed that her perspective of a young single mother (with a disabled child) was “needed now more than ever in Colombia”.
In fact, Holcombe was among the most promising potential candidates during the race for last year’s “could have been” election for Cox’s seat.
Several individuals allegedly defrauded by Hoover did not participate in criminal charges against him, however, at least two of them told the media that they continue to consider civil appeals.
One is a prominent political advisor to Palmetto who refused to be named for this story. According to this consultant, his company was stolen by Hoover in the amount of $ 5,000 for political correspondence.
Another is a popular activist from the interior of the state Jennifer Patterson. As we reported last spring, Patterson accused Hoover of not paying her more than $ 10,000 she was due – and trying to deny it in the world of Palmetto’s political advice when she complained about how she was treated.
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(Via: Facebook)
“I’m glad Tyler Hoover was caught,” Patterson (above) told us this week. “I feel like he ruined my reputation as much as working on any political campaign. I hope that justice prevails for all the victims involved, including me. “
Sources familiar with the situation told us that Hoover used his illegally obtained funds to fuel an alleged gambling addiction. If true, we certainly hope that he gets the help he needs.
Hoover was launched on Monday in a $ 500 personal recognition bond. The charges against him will be processed by the SC’s thirteenth circuit attorney’s office Walt Wilkins.
As we noted in our previous coverage, Hoover is found not guilty until proven guilty by our criminal justice system – or until he wishes to enter an allocation in connection with a plea agreement related to any of the charges against him.
Hoover is due to appear in a Greenville County court on April 20, 2021 to answer the charges.
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