Court documents
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In this federal indictment, members of the Asheville chapter of the American Outlaws Association motorcycle club, including President and Treasurer Chris Gagner as well as former member William Davey, are charged with being part of a criminal organization involving extortion, drug trafficking and violence against rival bikers. Twenty-seven Outlaws, including the national president, are named in the indictment.
The Mountain Xpress interviewed Angela Pittman of the Buncombe County Department of Social Services took place on Jan. 13, 2010, in her office. The interview was given with the express stipulation that individual DSS cases could not be discussed. Questions are by reporter Nelda Holder.
The interview came as part of Holder’s reporting on a child custody case involving DSS and Ryan Baldwin and his family. Xpress published an initial story on Jan. 6, and has published a follow-up.
Click here to download a PDF of the interview with Pittman.
North Carolina filed this nuisance lawsuit in 2006 in a bid to force the utility to reduce the air pollution produced by TVA’s 11 coal-burning power plants in Alabama, Kentucky and Tennessee. State Attorney General Roy Cooper argued that thousands of N.C. residents suffer adverse health affects, such as asthma, because of pollution blowing over the mountain’s from TVA’s plants. The lawsuit contends that the pollution is a nuisance, and it aims to force the TVA to clean it up.
The TVA disputes those claims, arguing that it has spent billions of dollars to reduce emissions and that pollution produced by North Carolina’s in-state coal-burning power plants poses a more significant threat.
In 2008, the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals turned down TVA’s motion to dismiss the suit, sending it back to North Carolina’s Western District Court and Judge Lacy Thornburg in Asheville. The trial is scheduled to begin July 14, 2008.
Click here to download a PDF of the lawsuit.
In an order signed Jan. 13, 2009, Judge Thornburg ruled that the TVA must install pollution controls at four of its coal-fired power plants closest to North Carolina, but denied Cooper’s request to add the controls at seven other plants.
Click here to read Judge Thornburg’s opinion, and click here to read the judgement.
In a $15 million wrongful termination lawsuit filed Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2008, against the Asheville Citizen-Times, former Executive Editor Susan Ihne claims the newspaper’s publisher bullied and harassed her.
Click here to download a PDF of the lawsuit.
Pete Bradley, the former Woodfin police chief convicted of assaulting his wife in 2005, had his first appearance before a federal magistrate on Sept. 2, 2008, on charges that, as a convicted felon, he illegally possessed a firearm.
Bradley was found in possession of a .45-caliber Sig Sauer handgun, according to court records. According to the court documents, the federal indictment on the charge was sealed by U.S. Magistrate Dennis Howell on Aug. 5. An arrest warrant issued Aug. 6 was also sealed by the court. The court opened the documents following Bradley’s court appearance.
Click here to see the arrest warrant. Click here to see the unsealed indictment.
Bradley was released from jail on Sept. 3. Click here to read the court order setting the conditions of Bradley’s release.
On Sept. 5, the government filed a motion to dismiss its charge against Bradley, saying that a recent U.S. Fourth Circuit of Appeals ruling would nullify the charge. Click here to see the government’s motion.
On Aug. 29, 2008, 24-year-old John Matthew Mumpower was arrested and charged with simple assault after a fight at Wild Wing Cafe on Biltmore Avenue in Asheville. He’s the son of Carl Mumpower, the Asheville City Council member running against Rep. Heath Shulerfor a seat in Congress .
The younger Mumpower, who goes by Matt Mumpower, and another man were marking “Thirsty Thursday” at the Biltmore Avenue bar about 12:30 a.m. Friday, according to an incident report written by Officer J. Brown, when a fight broke out. “According to the offender, the victim danced upon him in a mocking fashion and the offender struck him with a closed fist in the head/face area,” Brown’s report states. Mumpower was arrested and charged with simple assault, a misdemeanor.
Click here to read the Asheville Police Department report about the incident.
In August 2008, the city of Asheville lost another round in its legal quest to gain control of the city water system’s rates and revenues.
The N.C. Court of Appeals reaffirmed a lower court’s decision, finding that state lawmakers did not exceed their constitutional authority in enacting a law preventing the city from charging higher water rates to customers living outside its municipal boundaries. The three-judge panel’s ruling also upheld lawmakers’ right to require that the city use water system revenues only on water system maintenance and operation.
The current legal skirmishing has its roots in the adoption of the Sullivan Act in 1933, a 1981 city-county agreement known as the Water Agreement and the adoption of Sullivan Acts II and III in 2005.
Click here to download a copy of the N.C. Court of Appeals decision, filed Aug. 19, 2008.
When Vision Media Television first contacted Leslie Richard, who runs The Oko Box, a small eco-fashion business out of her Asheville home, she was interested. Then came the kicker: VMT wanted $22,900 for production fees and $3,000 for airfare to do the program, according to Richard.
Richard began researching the media company and came to believe she was being scammed. She reported VMT to the Better Business Bureau and wrote about the situation on her store’s blog, referencing e-mails the company sent her and reports of what she believes are similar scams.
On July 17, VMT filed a federal lawsuit against Richard for defamation, trade libel and “tortious interference with business relationship.” The lawsuit claims that Richard’s blog has lost the company $5 million in business and seeks another $15 million in punitive damages. Filed in the Southern U.S. District of Florida (the company is based in Boca Raton), the lawsuit gave her 20 days to respond. The lawsuit also confirms that the company does charge $22,900 for producing an “interstitial,” a short segment that runs between longer programs.
Click here to read the rest of the Mountain Xpress story.
Click here to download a PDF of the lawsuit.
In this plea deal, former Buncombe County Sheriff’s Deputy John “Johnny” Harrison agrees to plea guilty to an extortion charge and agrees to testify in the government’s case against former Buncombe County Sheriff Bobby Medford.
Click here to download a PDF file of the document.
In this Aug. 4, 2008, document, the attorney representing Harrison asks for more time to respond to the court’s pre-sentence report in part because Harrison has been recently hospitalized following back surgery.
Click here to download a PDF of the document.
In March 2008, Ronnie Eugene “Butch” Davis and Jack Willis “Jackie” Shepherd entered plea agreements in federal court and explained their involvement in an illegal gambling operation. The pleas are the latest in the federal government’s wide-ranging investigation into illegal gambling involving video-poker machines in Western North Carolina, a case that has netted video-poker-machine owners and law-enforcement officers.
Davis, 60, served as a lieutenant under former Buncombe County Sheriff Bobby Medford. Shepherd, a Weaverville businessman, was a political supporter of Medford’s and donated cash to his campaign. Shepherd agreed to forfeit property and money to the federal government, including almost $700,000 in money, two vehicles and three pieces of property, including Billy Jack’s Flea Market in Madison County. Click here to download a PDF of the document.
Shepherd agreed to plead guilty to running an illegal gambling operation through his business Western Amusements, Inc. and to testify against others involved. In return, charges against his son and stepson are dropped. Click here to download a PDF of the document.
In this document, Shepherd pleads guilty to running an illegal gambling operation through his Western Amusements, Inc. business, making more than $2,000 a day from 41 illegal video-poker machines in 10 locations throughout Buncombe and Madison Counties. Click here to download a PDF of the document.
Davis confirmed an unwritten deal with the government, pleading guilty to 11 charges, including extortion, mail fraud, illegally transporting money and running an illegal operation involving registration stickers for video-poker machines while he oversaw the program for the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office. Click here to download a PDF of the document.
In this July 21, 2008, court filing, Davis’ attorney asks the court to consider the attorney’s travel plans when scheduling a sentencing hearing. “It would be the request of the undersigned that the sentencing hearing be held either on or prior to August 12 or on or subsequent to August 25,” the filing by attorney Charles R. Brewer states.
Click here to download a PDF of the court filing.
The following witness lists for the trial of former Buncombe County Sheriff Bobby Medford include such local figures as current Sheriff Van Duncan, District Attorney Ron Moore, Board of Elections Director Trena Parker and retired Wachovia Vice President Al Whitesides. Any name on the least may—but not necessarily will—be called upon to testify in the corruption trial.
Click here to download a PDF of the documents.
Both the prosecution and the defense in the trial of ex-Sheriff Bobby Medford have described the amount of evidence as a “roomful.” This list of various items of evidence, including notes, money orders, statements and documents, gives a glimpse in the amount and scope of evidence to be introduced in Medford’s corruption trial, which begins April 29, 2008.
Click here to download a PDF of the document.
In this document, former Sheriff Bobby Medford, through his attorney, Stephen Lindsay, moves to delay the start of his upcoming trial by 30 days. In the documents, Lindsay claims that the current March 25 trial date has not given him and the defense enough time to review all the evidence.
Click here to download a PDF of the document.
In this October 2007 letter from Asheville City Attorney Bob Oast to attorney Paul Bidwell, Oast tells Bidwell to inform Reid Thompson that city staff has been instructed not to talk with him. The letter warns Thompson, on several occasions, “had behaved in a manner that has caused them to be concerned for their safety.” The city eventually banned Thompson from showing up at City Hall without an appointment. Thompson has had a long-running battle with the city over traffic at the Greenlife grocery store on Merrimon Avenue.
Click here to read Oast’s letter.
In February 2008, Blue Ridge Paper Products in Canton, one of the region’s biggest employers and one of the region’s biggest air polluters, sought a renewed Title V air-emissions permit as required under federal standards for major emissions sources.
Title V permits apply to facilities emitting more than 100 tons per year of any regulated hazardous material. According to EPA data, Blue Ridge Paper emitted some 2.5 million pounds of such substances in 2004.
The N.C. Division of Air Quality granted Blue Ridge a Title V permit on June 15, 2005, but the company appealed the permit’s conditions. The current application incorporates details of the settlement from that appeal, and other changes that include an alternative pollution-control system, according to Brendan Davey of DAQ’s regional office in Swannanoa.
Click here to download a PDF of the state’s draft air quality permit.
In this order, former Sheriff Bobby Medford’s motion for a second attorney and a delay of his trial are denied, with Federal Judge Thomas Ellis, III asserting that Medford already has more than enough time to review the evidence against him.
Click here to download a PDF file of the document.
In this statement of fact, former Buncombe County Sheriff’s Lt. John “Johnny” Harrison confesses to carrying out an extortion operation on behalf of former Sheriff Bobby Medford and falsifying video poker machine registration stickers for illegal gambling rings.
Click here to download a PDF file of the document.
In this document, Kerry Comer, an employee of former Buncombe County Sheriff Bobby Medford ally Jackie Shepherd, confesses to running an illegal gambling ring as part of his plea deal.
Click here to download a PDF file of the document.
In this plea agreement, Kerry Comer, an employee of Medford ally and Weaverville businessman Jackie Shepherd, agrees to plead guilty to running an illegal video poker ring, forfeit over $165,000 and testify against others in the case.
Click here to download a PDF file of the document.
In this document, Irving Comer, an employee of former Buncombe County Sheriff Bobby Medford ally Jackie Shepherd, confesses to running an illegal gambling ring as part of his plea deal.
Click here to download a PDF file of the document.
In this plea agreement, Irving Comer, an employee of former Buncombe County Sheriff Bobby Medford ally and Weaverville businessman Jackie Shepherd, agrees to plead guilty to running an illegal video poker ring, forfeit over $165,000 and testify against others in the case.
Click here to download a PDF file of the document.
In the following plea, former Buncombe County Sheriff’s Department Capt. Tracy Keith Bridges confesses to transporting and laundering money for former Sheriff Bobby Medford as part of Medford’s alleged protection operation for illegal video poker machine operators.
Click here to download a PDF file of the document.
In this document, federal prosecutors defend the date of March 25 for the Bobby Medford trial, asserting that a roomful of evidence and an out-of-town judge necessitate a later date than usual. They also claim to have evidence that other WNC sheriffs were involved in the alleged ring of corruption surrounding illegal video poker machines.
Click here to download a PDF file of the document.
This plea bargain between federal prosecutors and Hot Dog King owner Demetros Theodossis, accused of running an illegal video poker operation, drops most of the charges against Theodossis in exchange for his cooperation in the ongoing investigation and his agreement to pay the IRS over $330,000 in proceeds he made from the operation.
Click here to download a PDF file of the document.
These documents reveal the list of conditions former Sheriff Bobby Medford was released under on Jan. 22. The extensive list includes no use of cellphones and a prohibition against seeing former or current law enforcement officers, among others.
Click here to download a PDF file of the document.
This official summary of former Sheriff Bobby Medford’s detention hearing includes reasons given by the U.S. Attorneys and Magistrate Dennis Howell for keeping Medford behind bars until his trial, including fears that he might intimidate witnesses.
Click here to download a PDF file of the document.
A notice of intent to sue, sent on behalf of 29 residents living nearby the former CTS factory, by Hot Springs-based Attorney Gary A. Davis and Associate Rebecca Kaman. The lawsuit demands abatement of an endangerment to public health and the environment caused by hazardous waste seeping into the ground water at the CTS site. The lawsuit will be directed at the CTS Corporation, Mills Gap Road Associates and the Biltmore Group, LLC.
Click here to download a PDF file of the notice.
This release summarizes the charges against former Buncombe County Sheriff Bobby Medford and some of his deputies, related to illegal video poker operations. The charges include extortion, mail fraud, money laundering and obstruction of federal and state investigations.
Click here to download a PDF file of the report.
This federal indictment details extortion, fraud and corruption charges against ex-Sheriff Bobby Medford related to illegal video poker operations. The indictment also details the involvement of other sheriff’s office deputies and how the alleged extortion ring functioned.
Click here to download a PDF file of the report.
The indictment for Jack Shepherd, who allegedly ran an illegal video poker operation. The indictment is noted as “separate, but related” to the charges and investigation against former Sheriff Bobby Medford and some of his officers.
Click here to download a PDF file of the report.
