Horry County solicitor hopes to make quick decision on Johnny Gardner extortion report
Horry County Solicitor Jimmy Richardson said he hopes to decide early next week on whether to bring charges over extortion allegations against County Chairman Johnny Gardner.
Richardson confirmed to The Sun News on Friday that his office received the report from the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division this week on the alleged incident.
The extortion allegations have loomed over Horry County politics for months.
At the center of the allegations is a memo, written by Horry County Attorney Arrigo Carotti, that outlined allegations that Gardner and his associate Luke Barefoot tried to extort two representatives from the Myrtle Beach Regional Economic Development Corporation, president Sandy Davis and director of investor relations Sherri Steele.
The memo was based off a recording Davis made of the conversation. Carotti said he heard five minutes of the conversation and relayed what he heard to Horry County Administrator Chris Eldridge and later County Council.
Carotti said he heard Barefoot and Gardner asking Davis for money from the MBREDC and a job for Gardner’s campaign consultant Donald Smith. In exchange, Smith would help squash a future negative column from Paul Gable, a writer for a local political blog.
An email from Eldridge, attached in the memo, said the claims were a big deal and couldn’t be swept under the rug.
The memo was labeled “ATTORNEY-CLIENT PRIVLIDGED,” meaning it wasn’t intended to be seen by the public. Davis did not give over the entire recording of the conversation to the county attorney, but it’s believed she provided it to SLED.
