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South Carolina state representative Marvin Pendarvis resigned his seat in the S.C. General Assembly this week… but that was pretty much the only thing related to this still-unfolding story that made any sense.
The lawyer-legislator from North Charleston – once viewed as a rising star within the Democratic party – remains under criminal investigation by agents of the S.C. State Law Enforcement Division (SLED). Pendarvis reportedly also has ties to an ongoing federal investigation into a gun grant scandal involving city officials and multiple nonprofit organizations in his hometown.
To recap: Pendarvis was hit with a civil lawsuit back in April accusing him of settling a case without his client’s knowledge or permission, forging his client’s signature on the settlement documents and then trying to bribe the former client after he got caught. That filing sparked the SLED investigation into Pendarvis, which is reportedly poring through multiple cases involving the now-former lawmaker – and anyone who may have assisted him in alleged criminal activity.
Pendarvis submitted his letter of resignation on Monday (September 16, 2024), news which broke just yesterday…
Why did he choose to step down this week? Sources familiar with the status of the SLED investigation say Pendarvis’ indictment on charges tied to that probe is inevitable… but not imminent. In other words, there was nothing coming down the pike on it – certainly nothing which would have precipitated a resignation announcement this month.
What about pending federal investigations, though?
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As I reported earlier this month, an ongoing federal probe is focused (in part, anyway) on $1.3 million allegedly routed improperly by North Charleston to a network of “unvetted and unmonitored nonprofits.” The money was supposed to fund gun violence reduction measures, but according to our sources the appropriations were rife with kickbacks.
What’s the latest on that inquiry? One source familiar with the situation told this media outlet “it’s about to blow open.”
“Target letters have gone out,” the source continued. “Indictments (are) coming in waves starting in the next few weeks.”
Our media outlet has confirmed multiple target letters have been sent in connection with the federal investigation, however we have no specific information as to the timing of any looming federal indictments. Nor do we know the full scope of the inquiry – except that it continues to expand. Also, while Pendarvis has been linked to one of the nonprofits at the heart of the gun grant scandal, at this point we have no indication he is among those on the receiving end of a federal target letter.
“I know Marvin was pushing for the (gun) grants,” another source close the scandal told this media outlet.
Could that have been what prompted his decision?
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While speculation swirled regarding the timing of Pendarvis’ resignation, the day after he stepped down a report filed by Liz Owens of WRDW TV 12 (Augusta, Georgia) raised additional questions about his status.
According to Owens, a week after Pendarvis was sued civilly back in April – but several weeks before the supreme court suspended his law license – he mailed multiple boxes of client files to the home of Eugene Smith and Paula Brown in Denmark, S.C.
Pendarvis represented Smith and Brown in a class action suit filed in 2018 after WRDW uncovered serious issues with Denmark’s drinking water – a case which made national headlines.
As Owens searched through the boxes Pendarvis mailed to his former clients, she “discovered case files from all over South Carolina” – including multiple files that had nothing to do with the class action. These files contained “lawsuits in Orangeburg, Aiken and Charleston counties” as well as nearly fifty public defender cases in Charleston County – nineteen of which were still pending as of this writing.
Reached for comment by Owens, Pendarvis claimed he “inadvertently” sent the unrelated files to Denmark and asked the reporter if she could return them.
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RELATED | MARVIN PENDARVIS RESIGNS
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“If you could make sure that gets back to me,” Pendarvis said.
Aware of the court’s suspension order, Owens declined Pendarvis’ request – and hand-delivered the files instead to the attorney appointed by the supreme court to oversee his cases.
Why did Pendarvis send these files to his former clients in Denmark? Which case files did he send? Are the cases in any way connected with the various investigations in which he has become entangled?
While we try and get to the bottom of those questions, Pendarvis’ resignation has thrown a loop in the upcoming 2024 election cycle. Specifically, there are multiple state election statutes which could conceivably govern his resignation – which created a vacancy in the House District 113 seat he has held since 2017.
The problem? While Pendarvis resigned from office, as of this writing he has not withdrawn as the Democratic nominee for the November 5, 2024 election – which is scheduled to take place in just 45 days. According to our sources, the S.C. Election Commission (SCVotes.gov) has not received any formal notice of Pendarvis’ withdrawal as a candidate – meaning his name will remain on the ballot.
In fact, because Pendarvis is running unopposed, his name will be the only one on the ballot…
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR …
Will Folks is the owner and founding editor of FITSNews. Prior to founding his own news outlet, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina, bass guitarist in an alternative rock band and bouncer at a Columbia, S.C. dive bar. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.
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3 comments
Marvin maybe you and your POS buddy Jerome Heyward can share a cell. Just remember if you play stupid games you win stupid prizes!
Just thinking, based on other cases, that the real issue among lawyers has become who gets the big class-action cases which are the most lucrative of all.
His (plausible but disguised) efforts to protect the files of the class-action case by sending them to a different client of his may be related to the real cause why Marvin was targeted for a downfall.
This is a very-educated guess on my part.
Speaking of weird, check out what Andy Fancher just suggested on FITSNews’ yesterday’s month in review.
Here is my response to him suggest in case Google thinks I am the weird one:
I had missed the beginning of this live. Does Andy Fancher SERIOUSLY suggest the U.S. Government diverted Hurricane Helene towards a lithium-mining town in Appalachian North Carolina to punish some residents for resisting lithium mining?
I hope I get a straight answer to this question; and until I do, I will NOT comment on Andy, whom I had grown to respect.
I will, though, site one example of “stinking thinking” which keeps popping up every time more evidence of Becky Hill’s tampering with the Murdaugh jury is revealed.
The stinking thinking has it that Becky Hill was paid off by the Murdaughs to tamper with the jury so that Alex can get a new trial after the guilty verdict.
I don’t know that I can single-handedly stop the renewed waves of stinking thinking; but I hope there is truth to the hope that mightier than armies is an idea whose time has come.
And here is my mighty answer: If Becky was paid off BY ALEX to tamper with his jury, why would she not have directed the jury towards a not-guilty verdict and been done with it?
So, Andy Fancher, my dear REASONABLE Andy Fancher, would the money and power needed to (create) and divert a whole Hurricane Helene towards a tiny mountain town not been more than enough to pay off the residents of that town to abandon it to the lithium mining company or whatever entity wanted that town?
Really, Andy. Either you take your investigative work seriously OR all you did so far was to build enough credibility to sell this story of a government-manufactured hurricane, a Category-4 at that. Cloud-seeding, yes. That has been known and established. But to manufacture a hurricane is to LITERALLY insist that moles can build mountains if they can build mole hills.