Marlboro County sheriff’s co-defendant turns star witness in civil rights abuse of inmate case

FLORENCE, S.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) – For the past 25 months, state and federal prosecutors have relied on its star witness to secure indictments against suspended Marlboro County Sheriff Charles Lemon and former Deputy Andrew Cook.

That witness: a cell phone video recording of a body camera video from May 2020. That video showed Lemon ordering Cook to use a Taser to shock an inmate multiple times.

The South Carolina Attorney General’s Office used that video to indict Lemon and Cook on Dec. 14, 2021, on charges of felony assault and misconduct in office. The AG’s office has set two separate trial dates for Lemon and Cook, but both trial dates were continued and the state has not rescheduled the trial.

Suspended Marlboro County sheriff enters ‘not guilty’ plea to federal civil rights charge

The U.S. Attorney’s Office also used that video, along with at least one witness on scene during the jailhouse incident, to indict the pair of lawmen two weeks ago. The federal grand jury handed up indictments of a single charge each of a civil rights violation against Lemon and Cook.

During an arraignment hearing in Florence on Tuesday, Lemon pleaded not guilty. Cook was set to be arraigned at the same time but never showed up.

We now know why.

Just days after the federal indictment, the government and Cook quietly entered into a plea agreement on Jan. 30, 2024. The agreement means Cook would become one of the government’s star witnesses in its pursuit to convict the suspended sheriff of a federal felony that carries with it a maximum of 10 years in federal prison and/or a fine of $250,000.

TURNING ON THE SHERIFF

In a 13-page plea agreement, Andrew Cook agrees to provide “substantial assistance” to federal prosecutors in their prosecution of suspended Sheriff Charles Lemon. We could not find any formal details of exactly what help the government considers “substantial assistance” when a co-defendant or informant helps prosecutors convict another.

What we do know is this type of assistance, however, it’s defined, could earn someone charged with a federal offense a reduced prison sentence for their help in a criminal investigation and prosecution.

READ THE COOK PLEA AGREEMENT HERE:

01302024-ANDREW-COOK-PLEA-AGREEMENTDownload

In this case, the Cook plea agreement shows the government is willing to seek a maximum of only two years in federal prison instead of the maximum of 10 years.

To get the deal, Cook must cooperate “fully truthful and forthright…by providing full, complete and truthful debriefings about these unlawful activities and must fully disclose and provide truthful information to the government,” according to the Jan. 30, 2024, plea agreement.

The agreement requires Cook to provide any detail he may have regarding any criminal act involving suspended Sheriff Charles Lemon. The deal requires Cook to also disclose his criminal conduct if such conduct exists. If Cook satisfies all elements of the plea deal, prosecutors agree not to use any self-incriminating statements he may make against him.

If Cook fails to comply with the plea deal, the government could bring additional charges based on the information he provides, prosecutors would seek the maximum sentence available, and use every statement Cook makes to federal investigators against him.

‘Devastating’: Charlotte couple sues pharmaceutical company for defective IVF solution

SC ATTORNEY GENERAL GIVES UP STATE PROSECUTION

The Andrew Cook plea deal also contains a get-out-of-jail-free card for him in the state prosecution against him and suspended Sheriff Charles Lemon. If Cook satisfies every element of the plea agreement and a judge approves the agreement, the S.C. Attorney General’s Office has agreed to abandon its prosecution of the former deputy.

By abandon, we mean outright dismissal.

MARLBORO COUNTY ONLINE COURT ROSTER SHOWS BOTH STATE CHARGES AGAINST DAVID ANDREW COOK ARE STILL PENDING:

“The State of South Carolina agrees to dismiss, within five days of the acceptance of this guilty plea, the charges pending in State v. Cook,” the agreement states. The agreement also promises Cook that if other criminal conduct is discovered “arising out of the facts forming the basis for the crime charged,” the S.C. Attorney General’s Office will not hold Cook accountable for any such crime.

Senior Assistant Deputy Attorney General Heather Weiss used Marlboro County court time in December 2021 when she presented the video evidence of the jailhouse assault to the grand jury. The grand jury considered the evidence state prosecutors presented and then handed up indictments of felony assault and misconduct in office against Lemon and Cook.

Now, 25 months later, the court files in the state case show the AG’s office has never held as much as a hearing in the state prosecutions against Lemon and Cook. If a federal judge approves the plea deal between the U.S. Attorney’s Office and Cook, the pending state trial against Cook will not happen.

And the AG’s office agrees to walk away from holding Cook accountable for the allegations contained in the state’s indictments.

The state prosecution of Charles Lemon remains pending, according to Marlboro County court records. Lemon and Cook were supposed to be tried on the state charges in Marlboro County in March, but a few weeks ago, the AG’s office told Queen City News that the trial would not happen.

The AG’s office would not tell the public why at the time. This is the second trial date; the other set for September 2023 was also canceled, but the AG’s office refused to state the reason for that continuance as well.

Cook’s plea agreement is not final, however. The document shows that a judge must first approve the deal. A hearing on the plea agreement is set for Feb. 22, 2024, in Florence.

The deal, if accepted, requires the S.C. Attorney General’s Office to dismiss Cook’s state charges within five days.

Cook and Lemon remain free on bond. Lemon pleaded not guilty to the federal civil rights charge at a hearing on Tuesday in Florence, S.C.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News.