COLUMBIA, S.C. — Swansea Mayor Jerald Sanders has turned himself on charges after he was accused of taking public money and transferring to an account that he managed.
Sanders appeared at the Lexington County Courthouse Tuesday morning where he plead not guilty to charges of embezzlement of public funds and misconduct in office.
The judge granted him a $15,000 personal recognizance bond, which means he does not have to pay any money for his release.
Sanders was indicted by a grand jury on July 12 on the charges for an incident that happened in December of 2019. According to the indictment, Sanders wrongly accepted funds from the town and put the money into an account under his sole control.
The indictment does not say exactly how much money was taken, just that it was less than $10,000. News19 spoke with Swansea Town Councilwoman Doris Simmons, who said she filed a complaint against Sanders with Swansea Police in May of 2020.
Simmons claimed she took the action after a council meeting where town leaders noticed more than $4,000 was moved from the town's general fund to a private foundation that Simmons and Councilman Mike Luongo said is run by Mayor Sanders.
Through his attorney, Sanders released the following statement after his hearing:
"While this has been difficult for me and my family, we have and continue to fully cooperate with SLED and the Attorney General’s Office in this matter and we look forward to the day when all the facts are released and the people can see the whole story. I am confident that, when that day comes, I will be cleared of these allegations and be able to put this whole ordeal behind us."
South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster suspended Sanders from office after his indictment and appointed Mayor Pro Tem Woodrow Davis to serve as the interim mayor.
Sanders has been mayor of Swansea since 2017. Prior to that he served as a town councilmember.