More on the Medford mess

Looking more than usually stooped and frail, former Buncombe County Sheriff Bobby Medford was wearing a light blue casual suit and manacles as he was led into Asheville’s federal court house, Dec. 13. There he faced arraignment on charges of extortion, mail fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and obstruction of state and local law enforcement, all contained in a 19 page indictment handed down by the grand jury.
The indictment lays out detailed allegations concerning Medford’s complicity in the illegal video poker trade in the county between 2000 and 2006. North Carolina sheriff’s were charged with registration and oversight of video poker in the state starting in 2000, and the federal document alleges that Medford—together with Johnny Harrison, Butch Davis, Guy Penland and others “known and unknown”— extorted money from machine operators through golf tournament fees and direct pay-offs. The charges describe protection from enforcement of gambling laws that was coupled with threat of enforcement for failure to participate, a carrot-stick use of police power.
Medford and the others will be in court Monday, Dec. 17, for bond hearings. The prosecutor in the case has indicated that the government will request denial of bail due to risk of flight. Stay tuned.

~ by bothwellsblog on December 14, 2007.