By admin 
Two partners in crime — one a cousin, one a chaplain — of convicted felon Spartanburg County ex-Sheriff Chuck Wright received federal sentences on Thursday. One got prison; the other got probation.
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Lawson Watson, 74, a grandfather and Wright’s cousin, was sentenced to 16 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Timothy Cain in a hearing at the Greenville federal courthouse.
Watson’s offense: For years, he was paid $57,000-a-year in taxpayer money for doing nothing at the sheriff’s office. Sixteen months in prison was the maximum sentence recommended for him under federal sentencing guidelines.
Besides his no-show job, Watson for years was given a county truck, county benefits and a county cell phone free of charge even though he only reported to the office several days a year, according to evidence in the case. Meanwhile, the 600-plus other employees at the Spartanburg County sheriff’s office had to work to get their paychecks.
The last time Watson, who started work with the department in 2005, had a performance evaluation from a supervisor at his job was in 2007, evidence in the case showed. Prosecutors only charged Watson from the years 2021 to 2025 because that is what they could prove.
Watson used the county truck and county cell phone in his paving and grading business, according to evidence.
A Baptist preacher avoids prison
Watson’s do-nothing job was approved by former Sheriff Wright, who was sentenced Tuesday by Judge Cain to 41 months in federal prison for stealing from the department and allowing his cousin to be paid for a no-work position. Evidence showed Wright used much of the money he stole to illegally get prescription pain killing drugs such as oxycodone and hydrocodone. Wright was addicted to the painkillers, evidence showed.
Wright, a Republican, was elected five times by the people of Spartanburg. He was last elected in 2024, running unopposed and getting 96 percent of the vote, according to the S.C. Election Commission. Under state law, sheriffs have little oversight as to how they run their departments.
Also Thursday, Amos Durham, 61, who Wright hired as the department’s paid full-time Baptist chaplain, was sentenced to five years probation by Judge Cain. Five years’ probation is the maximum allowed by law.
A hearing for Durham was also held after Watson’s hearing at the Greenville federal courthouse.
Cain also ordered Durham to pay $95,442 as restitution. He has already paid $47,227, or his portion of the restitution. Wright is to pay the rest.
For years, Durham — ignoring the commandment “Thou Shalt Not Steal” — stole money out of the department’s benevolence fund and gave most of it to Wright, according to evidence in the case. The benevolence fund was a pot of charity money that was supposed to go to support deputies and their families who suffered deaths in the family, sickness or line-of-duty trauma.
In all, Durham acting on Wright’s behalf stole $89,000 from the benevolence fund from 2018 to 2025, government evidence showed. Durham and Wright also used benevolence fund money 24 times to pay for numerous meals at Spartanburg area restaurants, evidence showed.
Nearly all the money went to Wright, apparently to buy drugs for his addiction, but Durham used some $3,000 from the enevolence fund to clothes for himself at Jos. A. Banks, glasses and car maintenance services, according to the prosecution.
Durham routinely withdrew cash from the fund for Wright to use.
“It was so much, I couldn’t keep up,” he told investigators at one point, according to a prosecution memo.
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Evidence showed that other employees knew Wright and Durham were raiding the benevolence fund.
One employee said it was common knowledge at the department that the fund was not being spent on what it was established for, and that she “could not sleep with a clear conscience” thinking of it, according to a prosecution memo. Another employee shared that the fund was used to pay for Christmas parties at the office, if the party went over budget, and to buy trophies and awards, the memo said.
Ironically, one of Durham’s key responsibilities was to advise Wright “as to ethics,” federal prosecutor Elliott Daniels told the judge.
“Watson and Durham were at the center of two significant fraud schemes led by Chuck Wright. Their schemes are different than most that come before this Court because at their core were breaches of public trust and authority,” according to a prosecution memo that asked for prison time for both men.
Prosecutors also implied that Durham was weak and not completely responsible for his actions because he was a subordinate to Wright.
“To be clear, there was a significant power imbalance between Wright and Durham at the sheriff’s office. When confronted, Wright would remind employees that it was ‘his name on the (sheriff’s) building, not theirs.’ Employees worked ‘at the pleasure’ of the sheriff,” the prosecution memo said.
Defense lawyers asked leniency
Beattie Ashmore, Watson’s lawyer, had asked that his client be given a sentence lower than the 10-to 16-month guideline range that prosecutors proposed.
Not only does Watson take medication for a heart condition, he supports numerous charities including Meals on Wheels, St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, Wounded Warrior Project, the Shriners and Mercy Ships, Beattie wrote in a presentence memo. Watson was also a volunteer firefighter, Beattie wrote.
Durham’s attorney, Frank Eppes, had specifically asked for probation.
“Mr. Durham has devoted much of his adult life to ministry and community service. For the past twenty-nine years, he has faithfully served as the pastor of Ridgeville Baptist Church,” Eppes wrote.
“His longstanding pastoral role reflects stability, dedication, and a deep commitment to serving others. In 2010, Lieutenant Governor Andre Bauer presented Mr. Durham with the Palmetto Patriot Award, one of South Carolina’s highest recognitions, based upon his outstanding service in the community,” Eppes wrote.
The initial investigation into malfeasance at the sheriff’s office began with a tip about Watson’s no-show job and expanded into thefts from the benevolence fund. Reports in the news media helped keep attention on the case, law enforcement officials said. The case was investigated by agents from the FBI and the State Law Enforcement Division.
Once Wright resigned his sheriff’s office in May 2025, citing health reasons in a letter to Gov. Henry McMaster. He was charged criminally four months later, last September.
Bryan Stirling, the U.S. Attorney for South Carolina, said he was fine with a noncustodial sentence for Durham, who has no criminal history and is paying back the money he helped steal, has been contrite and cooperated with law enforcement.
The largest fraud scheme carried by Sheriff Wright was the five years of $57,000 in annual pay and benefits he steered to his cousin, Watson, for the no show job, said prosecutor Daniels after the hearing. Daniels is the U.S. Attorney’s office criminal chief.
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