09/02/2008

Associated Press

A former North Carolina sheriff convicted of taking bribes from video poker operators is scheduled to be sentenced next month in federal court and faces a long prison sentence.

Court records show that Bobby Medford and former volunteer Capt. Guy Penland will be sentenced on Oct. 6 in Asheville, the Asheville Citizen-Times reported Tuesday.

In May, a federal jury found Medford and Penland guilty of charges including extorting bribes from illegal video gambling operators and money laundering. They each face up to 170 years in prison.

Two dozen people have pleaded guilty in the government's sweeping investigation into the gambling ring.

Testimony indicated Medford collected as much as $553,300. The prosecution argued that Medford "prostituted the office of sheriff," but his defense contended Medford didn't know about the payments.

A former deputy testified that he kept money from the operators in the trunk of his police cruiser and gave it to Medford when he needed it. Medford denied he had a gambling problem, but records showed he spent 162 work days in 2006 gambling at Harrah's Cherokee Casino.

Medford lost a re-election campaign in 2006.

Records also show that former lieutenants John "Johnny" Harrison and Ronnie Eugene "Butch" Davis will also be sentenced.

Harrison pleaded guilty in February to taking money from gambling operators wile he was a deputy and agreed to testify against Medford. Davis pleaded guilty to 11 counts without an agreement from the government.

An order signed by U.S. District Court T.S. Ellis III said Medford has until Sept. 12 to file objections to a presentencing report. Other defendants already have filed objections.

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Information from: The Asheville Citizen-Times, http://www.citizen-times.com