Former Latta mayor pleads guilty, gets probation

Former Latta mayor Lenneau Berry, who was indicted in November 2006 on one count of common law official misconduct in office and five counts of common law obstruction of justice, has been sentenced to probation after pleading guilty to the crimes.

Berry pleaded guilty to those charges, as well as to making a false statement related to insurance fraud, Monday afternoon at the Chester County Courthouse, said Mark Plowden, a spokesman for Attorney General Henry McMaster’s office.

For the misconduct charge, Berry was sentenced to four years in prison suspended to thirty months probation. Presiding Judge Steven John also ordered Berry to pay $2,757.51 in restitution, Plowden said.

For the obstruction charges, Berry was sentenced to two years in prison suspended to 30 months probation on all five counts, Plowden said. For the false statement charge, Berry also was sentenced to two years in prison suspended to 30 months probation.

All sentences are to be served concurrently, Plowden said.

Berry, in connection with the misconduct in office charge, “willfully, dishonestly, and with bad faith and corrupt intent, engaged in acts and omissions of misconduct in office in the form of malfeasance, misfeasance and nonfeasance, to-wit misuse of Town of Latta property and/or funds and/or resources,” in violation of his mayoral duties from on or about Jan. 1, 2002, to Nov. 14, 2006, the day the indictment was issued. Gov. Mark Sanford suspended Berry from office the following day.

Berry also was charged with obstruction of justice as a result of “interfering with the disposition of a lawful traffic citation,” issued separately for local bail bondsman Frederick DeBerry, Joshua Ryan Herring, Amy Elizabeth Moore, Jamie Lyn Cook and Latonyia Ann Hunter, according to the indictment.

Berry was assigned a $25,000 surety bond at a hearing in Columbia on Nov. 20, 2006, and was ordered to return all town property to the town of Latta immediately.

While he was at that hearing, his house was burglarized, according to a Latta Police Department incident report.

A black powder gun was one of the items stolen from Berry’s home, according to the incident report. A black powder gun also has been listed among receipts as a purchase made using Berry’s town-issued credit card.

In all, items including computer equipment, jewelry, firearms, televisions and silver coins were reported stolen. The value of the items stolen was reported to be $10,600.

SLED announced it would investigate the Town of Latta in January 2006 after an audit by Munn and Associates of Florence showed “material weaknesses” in the town’s finances.

That audit found Lenneau Berry’s wife was paid $7,000 during the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2005. According to the audit, the money was paid to his wife to run the town’s “baseball program.”

That payment, which was not documented in the town’s meetings, also was in violation of the town’s nepotism ordinance that prohibits the hiring of any close relative by the mayor.

Other questions that arose from the audit were related to the mayor’s son, who made “several unauthorized purchases,” according to the audit.

Auditors also reported problems related to personal use of town vehicles, missing building permits, overriding of the competitive-bids process and excessive mileage reimbursements.

On Jan. 12, 2006, during a council meeting, Berry responded to the audit and its findings, saying he did nothing wrong.

After obtaining the records of town credit card use by the mayor through a Morning News and WBTW News13 Freedom of Information Act request, it was revealed that Berry charged purchases ranging from personal household items to meals at a Hooter’s restaurant in Myrtle Beach.

The credit card records show Berry’s town credit card also was used for purchases from Home Shopping Network and Kurama restaurant in Hilton Head.

According to records, Berry used an Exxon Mobile credit card to charge $8,700 in gasoline from June 2004 until December 2005 and he was reimbursed $5,000 for gasoline at 36 cents a mile by the town during the same time period.

At a town council meeting Feb. 9, 2006, Berry announced he would throw out his town-issued gasoline credit card and only receive reimbursements for business trips. During that same meeting, council members voted to have regular expense reports presented at all future meetings.