On Tuesday, May 27, 2008, the defendant, Eric Delano Smith, from Charlotte, North Carolina, pled guilty to Insurance Fraud 2nd Offense and was sentenced by The Hon. Larry B. Hyman, Jr. to the maximum sentence of ten years.   Eric Smith had a previous conviction from 2005 for three counts of Insurance Fraud from York, South Carolina and had recently been released from an 11 month sentence in October of 2007 in Charlotte, North Carolina for seven counts of Insurance Fraud.  

 York County Sheriff’s Office Detective Tracy Strickland, working along with Walt Woloszczuk, with the National Insurance Crime Bureau, conducted a thorough investigation that revealed that in the past three years Mr. Smith has filed in excess of thirty claims and defrauded various insurance agencies of over $50,000.00.   Eric Smith would use other people’s names, bank accounts, and other personal identity information to secure fraudulent policies and to make fraudulent claims.

 The 16th Circuit Solicitor, Kevin Brackett stated, “We are very pleased with this sentence.  This defendant needs to be made to understand that the justice system will not tolerate this type of fraud.  When people like Eric Smith cheat an insurance company we all have to pay in the form of increased premiums.  We sincerely hope that Eric Smith and anyone else contemplating this type of crime will take note of Judge Hyman’s sentence and choose to find an honest way to make a dollar.”

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Please contact Assistant Solicitor, Mindy Lipinski at 803-628-3020 with any questions or for further details.

Mindy Lipinski
Assistant Solicitor
16th Circuit Solicitor’s Office
1675-1A York Highway
York, S.C.  29745
 

Winners of the York County Solicitor’s Office

Anti-Drug/Violence Poster Contest for 2008-2009 Calendar

Over 70% of all crimes involve the use and abuse of drugs or alcohol.  Each year there is a steady number of juveniles charged with assault and other aggressive behavior.  These trends are alarming and everyone in our community needs to work together on prevention efforts.  To that end, the York County Solicitor’s Office is in its inaugural year of sponsoring an Anti-Drug/Anti-Violence Poster Contest involving fifth grade students in schools in York County. 

This contest is an education and prevention effort by our Office to promote awareness of the dangers of drug use, alcohol abuse and the effects of violence.  It is aimed at providing youth in York County the opportunity to make their own positive statement of the dangers of these serious problems and to join in our effort to reduce crime in York County. 

Over the past school year, the York County Solicitor’s Office has been accepting posters from fifth grade students in any school in York County.  The winners have been selected and the awards ceremony has been scheduled. 

The winners of the First Annual York County Solicitor’s Office Anti-Drug/ Violence Poster Calendar Contest for 2008-2009 are as follows:

Tori Herron- Gold Hill Elementary School
John Romanski- Riverview Elementary School
Michal Elizabeth Kemp- Gold Hill Elementary School
Lauren Ervin- Springfield Elementary School
Makaila Manning- Oakdale Elementary School
Troyanna Adams- Old Pointe Elementary School
Jadarrias Vance- Oakdale Elementary School
Isaiah Blackmon- Riverview Elementary School
Victoria Norman- India Hook Elementary School
Wendy Yang- Gold Hill Elementary School
Madison Rinehart- The Children’s School
Kayla Champion- Oakdale Elementary School
Daniel Jose Feagin- Cotton Belt Elementary School- HONORABLE MENTION

Each of these children’s drawings will be featured in the calendar and each child will be given a $100 savings bond.  The awards ceremony will be held on the following date time and location:

Awards Ceremony for Anti-Drug/Violence Calendar
Thursday, May 22, 2008
4:30 p.m.
The Center for the Arts
121 East Main Street
Rock Hill, South Carolina
We believe that this contest will be a valuable prevention effort in our County.  Several thousand calendars will be distributed throughout the county after the calendar is published. 

Please contact Ouida Dest at 803-909-7575 with any questions or for further details.

Ouida S. Dest
Assistant Deputy Solicitor
529 S. Cherry Rd.  Box 5
Rock Hill, SC 29732
803-909-7575

For Immediate Release

“Don’t Cross The Line” crime awareness campaign announced

On Wednesday May 14th at 10:30 a.m.  16th Circuit Solicitor Kevin Brackett and York County Sheriff Bruce Bryant will be joined by local law enforcement officers from every municipality in York County at the South Carolina state line to announce their new joint initiative to combat cross-border crime.

The campaign, titled “Don’t Cross the Line”, is designed to raise awareness in the North Carolina criminal community of the significant differences in the severity and likelihood of punishment for violent crimes in South Carolina as compared to Charlotte.  “Many criminals who come down here from Charlotte are unaware of how much more severe the sentences are in York County”, said Solicitor Kevin Brackett.  “They frequently comment that they would not have come to South Carolina had they known.”  “After hearing this many times I realized that we needed to do a better job of educating the Charlotte criminal community and that is what we hope to accomplish with this campaign.”

The campaign will be supported by the owners and operators of the Plaza Fiesta Carolinas who have generously offered to allow the Sheriff and Solicitor to use their recently installed LCD billboard.  At the press conference the first message of the campaign will be displayed on the billboard.  “Arturo Adonay and Plaza Fiesta have really shown their community spirit by working with us to make this happen”, said Brackett.   “We would not be in a position to do this without their generosity.”

In addition to this, Sheriff Bruce Bryant will discuss how his departmental restructuring will allow for a more proactive and flexible response strategy to respond quickly to cross-border criminal activity.  “Many criminals hope they can get back over the line before we catch them”, said Sheriff Bryant.  “What they are going to be finding more and more is that we are going to be waiting for them”.  “The new strategy coupled with a recent interstate agreement allowing us to pursue offenders into North Carolina more easily than before will mean there is no upside to coming into York County, just the downside of a long prison sentence”, he said.
The press conference will be held in the back parking lot of the Plaza Fiesta under the LCD Billboard.  For directions go to www.plazafiestacarolinas.com and click on the “Location” tab.  The physical address is 3700 Avenue of the Carolinas, Fort Mill, SC 29715.

For More Information contact:  Stacy Strickland at 803-628-3020 or Lori Stoneburner at 803-628-3059

In 1st month, unit investigated 25 bad checks By Kimberly Dick (Rock Hill Herald) Updated 01/29/08 A new solicitor's office unit has started prosecuting writers of bad checks, no matter how small the amount. Since the Worthless Check Unit started Jan. 1, the program has received about 25 bad checks from service-oriented and small businesses, Unit Coordinator Maria Cabrera said. Soon, the unit will work with grocery and larger stores to prosecute offenders. Because it's a crime to write a check without money to back it up, the collections unit will track down the money for businesses and individuals. If the person who wrote the bad check doesn't make good on the amount to the unit, they'll face an arrest warrant and criminal prosecution by the 16th Circuit Solicitor's Office. The unit's only sent out notices so far, and no money has been retrieved yet, Cabrera said. "We've only just begun the process," she said. "We've received 25 checks without really getting the word out." Solicitor Kevin Brackett modeled this unit after other units around the state. The program runs off fines recovered from the writers of bad checks.  In the 7th Circuit, Spartanburg and Cherokee counties have recuperated $1.5 million since they started the program more than three years ago. Most fraudulent checks are in small amounts, and Brackett said recovering that money can be a long process. This unit streamlines the process for merchants.   How the unit works:   In order to use the free service provided by the unit, the fraudulent check needs to be written in York County for goods or services, Brackett said. An arrest warrant is the check unit's last resort. "Most people want to make good on bad checks immediately," he said. "This is for those who don't." The merchant gives the check-writer time to cover the check before it is sent to the unit. Then, Cabrera sends the offender a letter that gives him or her 10 days to respond before a second, certified letter is sent. After another 10-day period the arrest warrant is issued, she said. No warrants have been issued. Even if the check-writer lives out of state, Brackett said a warrant will be issued. In some cases the person could be extradited from another state to pay for the bad check, he said. The check amount and prior offenses could make the charge felony-level, Brackett said. Fines associated with the bad check are proportionate to how much the check was worth.Once the money is recovered, the victim receives the amount of the original check plus the $30 insufficient fund fee. The rest of the fines go to the county and the unit for its operation. Recipients of a fraudulent check are encouraged to call the Maria Cabrera, coordinator of the Worthless Check Unit at 909-7585 or e-mail her maria.cabrera@ yorkcountygov.com.