South Carolina- Richland County sheriff arson investigation.
Earl Graham is a military veteran who owns a small business in Columbia, South Carolina. Three years ago Earl Graham contacted Policeabuse.com. Mr. Graham reported a marital dispute with his wife over an allegation that Mr. Graham's wife was having an affair with a local police official.
Over the past 2 years, Graham filed a series of complaints with the Richland County Sheriff office accusing a former police officer, Dan Johnson of having an affair with his wife. Johnson has repeatedly denied the allegation and he is suing Mr. Graham in civil court. For several months Graham demanded that the Richland County Sheriff office investigate his complaint of inappropriate conduct by Johnson.
We contacted the Richland County Sheriff's office to determine if an investigation was conducted. The Richland County Sheriff's office told us that their investigation into Graham’s allegations proved conclusively that no affair took place. I spoke with attorney Scott representing the Richland County Sheriff' office. He told me that Graham's claims were outrageous and unfounded. He assured me that Mr. Graham should not be taken seriously.
We sent two private investigators to Richland County and a third to Miami to meet in person with Mr. Graham and other witnesses. Mr. Graham met with our investigators in a small motel room in Miami. He was accompanied by two Richland County Sheriff deputies. The deputies came forward because of their own complaints about the Sheriff office. In total, 12 former and current Richland County police officers spoke with our investigators. They provided credible information about nepotism and corruption in the Richland County Sheriff office. They also talked openly about retaliation within the department directed towards whistleblowers.
A week after Mr. Graham was released from jail on a making a false report charge Sheriff Leon Lott offered a press release to the media. The story ran on every station throughout Columbia South Carolina. "Earl Graham arrested for making a false police report." The press release noted that Mr. Graham was being held at the central jail and implied that the charges were serious. What the public did not know is that Mr. Graham had been out of jail for more than a week on the misdemeanor charge. He had not been asked by the magistrate to pay any bail. The Sheriff's release of the false story had an immediate impact. Several of Mr. Graham’s friends withdrew their support. His business which flourished in Columbia has gone under. Graham's church and family continue to support him.
I confronted one of the news directors of a local TV station that ran the false story. She admitted that she had gotten all her information from the Sheriff's office and verified none of it before publication. At first she agreed to retract the information and allow Mr. Graham equal time but after a conversation with Sheriff Leon Lott our appointment to go on the air was canceled. In our records research we could not find a similar press release for any other criminal suspect.
Link:http://policeabusetv.blogspot.com/