Hearing set for former Myrtle Beach chamber chair facing 167 ethics charges

A former Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce chairman facing 167 ethics charges finally has a hearing date after it was delayed in February 2017.

Robert “Shep” Guyton will go in front of the South Carolina Ethics Commission on Jan. 17, 2019 in Columbia. It’s the oldest case on the commission’s docket.

Guyton, a lawyer, is accused of exceeding personal campaign contribution limits in 2009 by moving money through corporations controlled by him to candidates and other political groups, documents show.

In 2016, he was under investigation by the FBI and IRS, which declined to pursue criminal charges.

In a notice of hearing, one charge is for allegedly not filing a statement of organization form for spending more than $25,000 in campaign contributions to influence the outcome of an elective office.

The second charge is for allegedly not filing an initial campaign disclosure report within 10 days spending more than $500.

The other 165 charges are for allegedly making excessive contributions to political candidates, including former state representative and S.C. governor candidate Gresham Barrett. Guyton allegedly donated $3,500 through his personal account and through different entities multiple times.

Other contributions allegedly went to former Myrtle Beach Mayor John Rhodes, former Myrtle Beach councilmen Wayne Gray, Chuck Martino and Randal Wallace.

Candidate for the S.C. Senate Raymond E. Cleary III and candidates for the S.C. House of Representatives Liston D. Barfield, Thad Viers, Nelson L. Hardwick, George M. Hearn and Alan D. Clemmons allegedly received $1,000 in contributions.

According to the notice hearing, Guyton also allegedly donated $3,500 each to non-candidate committees Myrtle Beach Residents for Tourism, Local Residents for Tourism and Good Government in Myrtle Beach.

Last year, Guyton was supposed to appear before the commission in February, but the new members had to be seated, pushing the hearing back.

In May, Meghan Walker, executive director of the South Carolina Ethics Commission, said the delay in his case was due to the commission not having a general counsel.

Guyton is facing $2,000 in fines per charge.

This story was originally published October 9, 2018 at 1:53 PM.