Former NMB Rep. Tracy Edge accused of taking payouts in illegal S.C. lobbying scheme

A former local S.C. House Representative, embroiled in an ongoing State House corruption probe, was allegedly on the payroll of a top political consultant accused of using legislators to pad the pockets of his clients, prosecutors told a court in Columbia at a bond hearing Tuesday.

Richard Quinn, 73, “used legislators, groomed legislators and inspired legislators and others to violate multiple provisions of the state ethics act so they could all make money,” special prosecutor David Pascoe told the judge. “We believe he spearheaded a lot of this conspiracy and really got a lot of these people into this mess.”

Former state Rep. Tracy Edge, R-Horry, was one of the ones in the “mess.”

Edge was paid between $290,000 and $300,000 by Richard Quinn & Associates from 2004 to 2014, Pascoe told Judge Jocelyn Newman.

At no time while he was in the Legislature did Edge list the income on required state disclosure statements, Pascoe said, adding, for years, the Quinn firm paid Edge $3,200 a month.

Edge, from North Myrtle Beach, was granted bond at $10,000 on charges of misconduct, perjury and criminal conspiracy in the Columbia courtroom Tuesday afternoon.

Edge was indicted on Oct. 18 after prosecutors say he lied to a grand jury about his knowledge of “entities doing business with First Impressions, Inc.,” a brainchild of Richard Quinn and Associates.

Over the years, Pascoe said, Quinn or his firm, secretly funneled some $1.3 million to three highly placed state lawmakers, who then took actions in the legislature that benefited the clients of Quinn’s firm.

Some of his biggest clients were in the healthcare industry, Pascoe told the court.

“Edge became the chairman of the subcommittee over the healthcare industry on Ways and Means,” he said. “Right around that time, in late 2004, Richard Quinn and Associates started paying Tracy Edge around $3,200 a month, every month ... The payments to Edge did not end until he lost his primary race in 2014.”

Prosecutors allege Quinn made “millions of dollars” from his clients who were helped by the lawmakers doing his bidding, Pascoe told the court.

Quinn - one of the Palmetto State’s leading political consultants - was indicted on a felony charge of criminal conspiracy and a charge of illegal lobbying for failing to register as a lobbyist, court documents show.

Edge, 50, served in the District 104 seat, representing the North Myrtle Beach area, including Cherry Grove and Little River, in the State House for 18 years from 1996 to 2014. Prosecutors claim Edge engaged in criminal conspiracy and misconduct in office for almost 8 of those years.

The indictment alleges Edge worked with Quinn and others “to use the office and position of members of the South Carolina General Assembly to willfully and dishonestly fail to properly and faithfully discharge the duties of public office.” It also accuses the defendants of committing “acts and omissions constituting official misconduct, fraud, corruption or habitual neglect.”

The indictment alleges Edge, while representing his hometown in the State House, “repeatedly violated provisions of the Ethics Government Accountability and Campaign Reform Act of 1991.”

Edge still lives in North Myrtle Beach, where he served on the city’s council before earning the State House seat. He was a former vice president at Burroughs and Chapin Corporation, which owns property along the Grand Strand, including Broadway at the Beach and Barefoot Landing.

Between 1999 and 2006 Edge won Legislator of the Year awards from various associations, including the South Carolina Disabilities and Special Needs Association and the South Carolina Landowners Association.

This story was originally published October 24, 2017 at 6:12 PM with the headline "Former NMB Rep. Tracy Edge accused of taking payouts in illegal S.C. lobbying scheme."