Hewett, Former Brunswick County Sheriff Gets 16 Months in the Can

Senior United States District Judge W. Earl Britt gave Ronald E. Hewett 16 months imprisonment followed by two years of supervised release as well as a $10,000 fine.

October 10, 2008

BRUNSWICK COUNTY NC NEWS -- Former Sheriff, Ronald E. Hewett, 45, was sentenced in federal court Monday by Senior United States District Judge W. Earl Britt to 16 months imprisonment followed by two years of supervised release as well as a $10,000 fine.

On May 8, 2008, Hewett was charged in a one-count Criminal Information charging corruptly endeavoring to obstruct justice, specifically, a federal grand jury investigation into allegations of corruption of his office as Sheriff of Brunswick County, North Carolina. On June 2, 2008, Hewett pled guilty to the charge.

A member of the North Carolina Democratic Party, Hewett was elected Sheriff of Brunswick County in 1994 and served in that capacity until he was suspended in late March of 2008. Hewett formally resigned from his office as Sheriff on April 15, 2008. Additionally, Hewett is well known for portraying himself in the movie, "Work Series: Sheriff." In the movie released on 10/23/2007, Hewett is the subject of this motion-picture style documentary, which follows the Sheriff as he hunts down an escaped bank robber, busts a video poker operation, and recovers a stolen truck that is carrying ceramic gnome lawn ornaments.

During the last half of Hewett's tenure, he repeatedly abused his position as Sheriff of Brunswick County for his own personal benefit, rather than his sworn duty as an elected public official, thereby, failing to providing the protection of the people of Brunswick County. Additionally, Hewett misused public funds by ordering deputies, while on duty, to perform manual labor at his house and to work on his political campaigns. Furthermore, the former Sheriff obstructed his office's criminal investigation of a family relative.

According to Federal sources, on June 7, 2007, SBI and FBI agents served 25 federal grand jury subpoenas on Hewett and numerous deputies for the June and July grand juries. Almost immediately after receiving the subpoenas, then Sheriff, Ronald E. Hewett began meeting with his deputies and attempting to corrupt their testimony. Hewett allegedly instructed his deputies to either assert their Fifth Amendment privilege or answer vaguely to the grand jury.

Hewett is noted to have told one Captain: "what you don't tell, you don't have to explain." Likewise, Hewett arranged for a note to be delivered to a grand jury witness, not employed by the Sheriff's Office, containing the words the witness should read in grand jury in order to invoke his Fifth Amendment privilege.

As the federal grand jury investigation progressed, Hewett started to sweat, resorting to more direct threats of retaliation. In one instance, Hewett approached a deputy, prior to a federal grand jury meeting, asking how the deputy would pay his mortgage without a job, and further telling him that he (the deputy) had a lot to lose. Moreover, Hewett arranged for a Chaplain to attend staff meetings and instruct the deputies that they should not cooperate with evil on the witness stand, and they should not be swayed in their testimony while on the witness stand.

Eventually breaking under the fear of the unknown, Hewett began retaliating against persons he thought were testifying against him at the grand jury or cooperating with the federal investigation. Abusing his position, Hewett would take away from Deputies' usage of police vehicles as well as their authority, in an effort to punish those by whom he felt betrayed.

Announcing the outcome of the sentencing of the Former Brunswick County Sheriff, Ronald E Hewett, United States Attorney George E. B. Holding and head of the FBI in North Carolina, Special Agent in Charge Nathan Gray made the following remarks.

United States Attorney Holding said, "Ronald Hewett was not only a law enforcement officer, but he was also entrusted by the people of Brunswick County with leadership of their Sheriff's Office. First, he breached that trust by operating the Sheriff's Office for his personal benefit. Then, when that activity came under investigation, he unlawfully obstructed the investigation. The state of North Carolina is seeking to hold him accountable for the former. Today, the federal court has held him accountable for the latter."

Special Agent in Charge Nathan Gray said, "People have faith that as members of law enforcement we will protect them from criminals and violence. When the head of an agency is charged with a crime, it chips away at that trust. The US Attorney's Office and the agencies that took part in this investigation have proven through diligence and hard work that anyone committing a crime will be held accountable. This case proves that no one is above the law."

The criminal investigation of Former Sheriff, Ronald E. Hewett, was conducted jointly by the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the United States Postal Inspection Service, in conjunction with the United States Attorney's Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Dennis M. Duffy and First Assistant U. S. Attorney John Stuart Bruce are prosecuting the case for the United States.

In closing, as we all know the occurrences in Brunswick County, North Carolina sounds all to familiar, maybe not to the extent of the case above, but rumors of civil rights abuse can be heard in many areas of North Carolina. In my opinion, this is mainly in part to local law enforcement being entwined in partisan politics. Therefore, the only available solution is for citizens to watch with a keen eye for signs of corruption within their community, and when uncovered alert the FBI.