Carolina Politics Online

JESUP, Ga. — Former state Treasurer Thomas Ravenel began serving his 10-month prison term Thursday, arriving at the gate just ahead of the noon cutoff.

Ravenel arrived at the Jesup federal prison at 11:32 a.m. and headed behind bars to serve time on his cocaine charge.

The Post and Courier

The former state treasurer, who is scheduled to check into prison by May 29 after pleading guilty to a federal cocaine charge, says that he wasn’t an addict and that he hopes to run for public office again.

The Post and Courier

Yeah, sure.  Good luck with that, buddy.

Former state Treasurer Thomas Ravenel has received his federal prison assignment and reporting date.

Ravenel is scheduled to report to the Federal Correctional Institution at Jesup, in southeastern Georgia, by noon May 29, his attorney confirmed Wednesday.

The reporting date came as Ravenel in March asked to report to prison early, giving up on an extension that would have kept him free for an additional five months.

The Post and Courier

An anonymous reader who frequents here pointed me to the Ravenel Sentencing Memorandum

• Ten months in federal prison

• A $221,323 fine

• $28,676 restitution to reimburse the state for the cost of a special legislative session to name his successor.

U.S. District Judge Joe Anderson said the public would have perceived a miscarriage of justice if Ravenel had been let off, given his position and his repeatedly using and giving away powder cocaine.

“A sentence of incarceration is necessary in this case to promote respect for the law,” Anderson said at the end of the hearing in Columbia. “To not impose a custodial sentence would not promote respect for the law.”

Ravenel could have received 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine. Under federal sentencing guidelines, the recommended punishment was 10 to 16 months in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Ravenel apologized to his family, business associates and the state.

The Herald

I guess that’s not so bad.  Initially I was for just giving him probation because as far as I am concerned what you do in the privacy of your home is your business and not the government’s.  However, considering that Ravenel’s distribution of handing out the drug went far and wide to many people he probably got off kind of easily on this one.

U.S. Attorney Reggie Lloyd said Wednesday that he expects Pellicoro to be located and that the FBI has been working with overseas authorities to find him.

“They do have some leads,” he said. “We hope at some point very soon to have him do the right thing and come face these allegations.”

Pellicoro, a native of Italy, was 53 when he fled South Carolina in September shortly after he was named in a charge of conspiracy with intent to distribute cocaine. After claiming he was in Switzerland, he has not been heard from since. He was not required to surrender his passport before his arraignment, officials said. His cell phone is no longer in service.

The Post and Courier

I am confused here.  Is Pellicoro being accused of drug dealing or simply using?  If all they are charging him with his using then this is a huge waste of state and Federal funds to be trying to locate and extradite this guy from half way across the world.  Really, who cares.

Former State Treasurer Thomas Ravenel and a co-defendant are scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 28 in U.S. District Court in Columbia on cocaine charges.

Ravenel, who pleaded guilty in September to one count of conspiracy to possess and distribute less than 500 grams of cocaine, faces a maximum 20-year prison sentence, though the U.S. Probation Office has recommended a sentence of 10 to 16 months, according to court papers filed by Ravenel.

Ravenel, 45, who is free on bond, is accused of sharing cocaine with his friends at his Charleston mansion, though not selling it.

The State

We’ll see how easy Tommy gets off on this.  I imagine he’ll just get slapped with simple probation and that’s fine with me quite frankly.  I don’t see how anyone engaging in drug use in their own home is the business of any government entity in the first place.

Former state Treasurer Thomas Ravenel suffered from “cocaine’s spell” and should be sentenced to probation because he never sold the drug, his attorneys argued in court documents.

Ravenel, 45, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine in September and faces up to 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine, though his plea agreement calls for a reduced sentence because he is helping prosecutors with their investigation. His sentencing date has not yet been scheduled.

“Ravenel was not a drug profiteer,” according to court documents filed Monday. “By contrast he was, at his own expense, sharing with a limited number of friends in various social settings. … He was a man suffering cocaine’s spell.”

The State

Ok the “suffering cocaine’s spell” comment is a bit over dramatic, but I actually don’t think the request for probation is unreasonable.  I am pretty libertarian on these kinds of issues and I don’t think having possession of drugs should be illegal because I frankly don’t think it is anyone’s damn business.  If Ravenel had been selling it or had an intention to, that would be a bit different, but I don’t see any reason for him to go to prison over this, especially for 20 years.  God, there are murderers who don’t go to jail that long.

Former state Treasurer Thomas Ravenel’s cocaine supplier has been taken back into federal custody after he was charged with striking a Mount Pleasant police officer last month.Michael L. Miller violated the conditions of his release by becoming involved in additional criminal conduct and failing to alert the U.S. Probation Office about it, a federal prosecutor said.

Miller was arrested Nov. 16 outside a Waffle House restaurant on Long Point Road. He appeared to be extremely intoxicated and disoriented at the time and lashed out at an officer who was trying to help him get back into a taxi cab, a police report says.

The Post and Couier

Boy, ole Tommy sure set himself up with one motley crew. It’s amazing he managed to get as far he did in public life without all of this coming out much earlier. Money talks.

Michael Miller’s cell phone would ring at all hours of the night and into the early morning - his Charleston-area drug customers seeking their next cocaine fix.

And, at least a few times, on the other end of the line was former state Treasurer Thomas Ravenel.

The details of the men’s interactions were revealed in court Tuesday as Miller, 25, formally pleaded guilty to two federal drug charges. Prosecutors have said Miller sold cocaine to Ravenel, who shared the drug with friends but did not sell any himself. The two men were indicted in June on charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute less than 500 grams of cocaine.

The State

He challenged his students to be engaged in the policy-making process, partially by taking their education into the voting booth, and lined up several students at the front of the classroom to represent various empires that had risen and crumbled over the centuries. Each of the political and economic powers, he said, came to an end.

The British Empire “is not the global power they used to be,” he said, while pointing out regions on a world map. “It’s fairly inconsequential, in the grand scheme of things. When you look at the rising power in the world, it’s really here in China and India. It is not in England.”

Holding out a dollar bill as a visual aid, he asked students how much of their future income they would like to keep. “All of it” was a common response, but Sanford cited a study by Boston University economist Laurence Kotlikoff, in conjunction with the White House’s Office of Management and Budget, indicating that the average net tax rate for today’s young people will eventually reach 82 percentage of their lifetime income.

Aiken Standard

The 82% figure is shocking. Sanford has a point on that. How different is it from slavery? More students need to be taught these things.

Former state Treasurer Thomas Ravenel should reimburse the state for a special legislative session held last month to elect his successor, says Common Cause of South Carolina, a nonprofit government watchdog group.

In a letter Thursday to the U.S. Probation Office, Common Cause executive director John Crangle said the total mileage and per-diem cost for the session was $28,676.

The State

I don’t really have an issue with that. The runs and gets elected to be our State Treasurer and then gets himself impeached from office for dealing drugs costing the state to hold a special legislative session to appoint a new treasurer at taxpayer expense. Their request sounds reasonable to me.

Former South Carolina Treasurer Thomas Ravenel, once seen as a rising political star in the Republican party, pleaded guilty Thursday to a federal cocaine charge.

Ravenel, 45, admitted during the plea hearing that he had bought cocaine from several different people, and said he had used the drug sometimes as often as once a week.

Beaufort Gazette

Former Treasurer Thomas Ravenel will plead guilty Thursday to a cocaine distribution charge in a plea agreement that his lawyers hope will lead to limited jail time or even probation.

The agreement was filed Friday in federal court in Columbia. In exchange for Ravenel’s continued cooperation, prosecutors will pursue a downward departure of the penalty time he faces.

Charleston Post & Courier

I don’t think Ravenel should do any jail time. Frankly, his political future is ruined, and that’s a pretty sizable punishment for what I consider a relatively minor crime.

Pasquale Pellicoro, 53, of Mount Pleasant was listed as part of a new, superseding grand jury indictment made public by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Columbia.

The indictment doesn’t include any new charges against Ravenel, who resigned his job as state treasurer in July, eight months after he was elected.

The new indictment says Ravenel, Pellicoro and previously indicted deejay Michael L. Miller conspired with people “known and unknown to the grand jury” to possess with intent to distribute and distribute cocaine.

Ravenel’s attorney, Bart Daniel of Charleston, said the indictment contains no new charges against his client.

“There’s no effect on us,” he said.

Post & Courier

No, no effect at all, aside from the fact that your client is still going to jail and has ruined the rest of life.

Former state Treasurer Thomas Ravenel has been released from a New Mexico treatment center, one of his attorneys said, and a judge Monday postponed his federal drug trial until November.

The multimillionaire Charleston developer checked into the Life Healing Center in Sante Fe, N.M., after his last court appearance in Columbia on July 24 on a charge of conspiracy to possess and distribute cocaine.

Ravenel, 45, was released “within the last several days” and has returned to Charleston, said Charleston attorney Gedney Howe, one of his lawyers, when contacted Monday.

The State

Damn, I forgot to ask him to get Brittany’s and Lindsay’s autograph for me.

Prosecutors and defense attorneys for former S.C. Treasurer Thomas Ravenel have requested more time to review materials in his case on a federal cocaine charge.

Pretrial motions in Ravenel’s case had been scheduled for Tuesday, with jury selection set to start Sept. 5. If the attorneys’ request for a delay is granted, the trial for Ravenel and his co-defendant, Michael Miller, would be postponed until November.

The State

If convicted on a federal drug charge, former State Treasurer Thomas Ravenel could receive as little as six months’ house arrest and probation, according to an analysis of federal sentencing guidelines by The (Columbia) State newspaper.

The Island Packet

Common Cause of South Carolina, a nonprofit government watchdog group, is calling on former S.C. Treasurer Thomas Ravenel to reimburse the state for a one-day special legislative session Aug. 3 to elect his successor.

John Crangle, the watchdog groups attorney-director, estimated it would cost taxpayers about $32,000 for the General Assembly to meet for one day, based on standard per-diem and mileage reimbursement rates.

The State

You know, I never thought about this before, but it’s an interesting concept. If an elected official has to resign due to corruption against him, should they have to pay for the special election to fill their place?

With Tuesday’s resignation of Thomas Ravenel from the state treasurer’s post, Gov. Mark Sanford is losing an ally on the Budget and Control Board.

Sanford’s been able to secure a 3-2 majority on the board, but that could change, depending on whom the General Assembly elects to replace Ravenel.

The board oversees the management of state government and controls significant purse strings. Sanford, who serves as chairman, wants to dissolve the board and move its operations under the executive branch.

The Post and Courier

The General Assembly will pick Ravenel’s replacement. Hopefully, they will appoint someone with the same fiscal discipline as Sanford.

While Sanford has not made a determination of who he’d like to see take over as treasurer, Sawyer said, “We do think it’s very important to have a fiscally conservative person who believes in good stewardship of taxpayer dollars.”

Amen!