Here are the allegations against controversial former Columbus County Sheriff Jody Greene

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This story originally appeared online at The Border Belt Independent, reposted here via NC Policy Watch.

Jody Greene resigned last week, six days after being sworn in for a second term as Columbus County sheriff.

Superior Court Judge Douglas Sasser originally suspended Greene on Oct. 4 at the request of local district attorney Jon David. The move came shortly after a 2019 phone call in which Greene made racist remarks surfaced in the media.

Greene, who was first elected in 2018 as Columbus County’s first Republican sheriff, resigned Oct. 24 at the start of a hearing to determine whether he would be removed from office. He won re-election on November 8, defeating Democratic challenger Jason Soles, who recorded the phone call.

Moments after Greene was sworn in Thursday for a second four-year term, David refiled a petition calling for Greene’s suspension and permanent removal from office. In court papers, David accused Greene of corruption and maladministration in office, including racial profiling of employees in the sheriff’s office.

Here is more about the allegations against Greene:

Clementine Brown, who had worked with the sheriff’s office since 1998 and was the only black woman on command staff, says she was demoted in January 2019 and Melvin Campbell, who spent nearly three decades with the North Carolina Highway Patrol , began working at the sheriffs office in 2016. He says he was fired in January 2019 by then-chief deputy Aaron Herring, who told him Greene no longer needed his services. In an affidavit, he said he was never disciplined during his time at the sheriff’s office.

In an affidavit, Whiteville City Manager Darren Currie said a furious Greene called him in late 2019 after Jason Soles, a former sheriff’s office worker, was hired by the New York City Police Department. Whiteville. Greene allegedly told Currie that Soles was not allowed on county property.

Soles’ stepfather, Jason Lee Croom, was arrested in March 2020 after telling Greene he needed to grow up, according to court records. The charge was ultimately dismissed.

In the summer of 2020, Greene threatened to remove air conditioners from school property that was being used for court purposes during the coronavirus pandemic, former Paisley County Commissioner Edwin Russ said in an affidavit. The conversation took place shortly after the Board of Commissioners denied Greenes’ request for riot gear and bigger pay raises for sheriff’s employees.

At a board meeting shortly after, several MPs lined up in an apparent attempt to intimidate county commissioners, court records show.

Also in 2020, Deputies Greenes arrested County Commissioner Giles Buddy Byrd on suspicion of property crimes. An outside conflict prosecutor said the charge should be dismissed.

The alleged affair took place between September 2019 and May 2020 and occurred at times when Greene and/or the employee were on duty, according to court documents. A deputy said in an affidavit that the woman became pregnant with a Greenes child and had an abortion in Wilmington.

After a man held at the Columbus County Detention Center was beaten by four other inmates last summer, District Attorney David asked the State Bureau of Investigation to investigate the incident. Officers determined that prison staff failed to complete required checks, and video showed detention officers did not see or respond to the beatings until about 20 minutes had passed, records show. judicial.

Sarah Nagem is the editor of Border Belt Independent, a non-profit newsroom serving Bladen, Columbus, Robeson and Scotland counties which first published this report.

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