McBratney Law Firm, P.A.

LEXINGTON, SC — A Lexington County jury late last week took two hours to deliberate before awarding a woman $1.6 million in actual damages in a   civil case in which she claimed she was hounded by the Richland County Sheriff’s Department, strip-searched and tossed in jail on felony charges that were later dismissed.

The case of lawyer Kay Paschal, who won the verdict against Sheriff Leon Lott, involved a dispute over a dead Columbia businessman’s multimillion-dollar estate, issues of sheriff’s department jurisdiction and charges of exploitation of a vulnerable adult. Questions also arose about   whether one of Lott’s deputies was too personally close with heirs of the dead man.

Under S.C. law, sheriffs are responsible fo...

Former Aynor High School substitute teacher pleads guilty to sexual battery with student

A former substitute teacher was ordered to spend six months in jail and five years probation after he pleaded guilty to sexual battery with a student, according to court records.

Jerry David Love, 34, of Galivants Ferry pleaded guilty to sexual battery with a student of 16 or 17 years of age before Circuit Court Judge Roger M. Young Sr., according to Horry County court records. Young ordered Love to serve five years in prison, but suspended that sentence to six months in jail and five years on probation.

Love was given credit for the time he had previously served and ordered to be placed on the central registry of child abuse and neglect, according ...

By John Monk, The State Newspaper

COLUMBIA, SC — For Chandra Padgett, the trusted bookkeeper at an Irmo doctor’s office, her workplace wasn’t just a job – it was a giant piggy bank she could raid for money.

Lots of money.

Next week, according to documents filed in federal court in Columbia, Padgett has agreed to plead guilty to embezzling $1.9 million from Advanced Pain Therapies in Irmo. She worked there as its accountant, office manager and billing coordinator.

Padgett, of Chapin, is scheduled to appear before U.S. Judge Joe Anderson on June 6, according to records in her case.

The case is among the largest known embezzlements in recent Midlands history. It also involves a medical practice that took in hundreds of thousands of Medi...