Former South Carolina Lawmaker Viers Sentenced for Insurance Money Laundering

A former South Carolina lawmaker who was once a rising star in the Republican party and was getting noticed by the governor at conservative gatherings is heading to prison for more than three years for money laundering.

Thad Viers’ three-year fall from grace hit a new bottom Tuesday as he was sentenced to 37 months in prison and ordered to pay back $875,000.

The 37-year-old attorney helped his client, construction company owner Marlon Weaver, hide assets from an insurance company looking to collect after Weaver failed to fulfill a $6 million state contract to pave part of Interstate 95, prosecutors said in a news release.

Weaver cooperated with authorities and was sentenced to a year in prison. Viers pleaded guilty in April.

Viers also lied to the IRS and federal agents about what he did with Weaver’s assets, authorities said.

Viers served in the state House from 2003 until 2012. He also was a front-runner for South Carolina’s new U.S. House seat, created after the 2010 Census.

At a 2011 Charleston gathering sponsored by conservative blog RedState, Gov. Nikki Haley recognized Viers in the crowd and noted his run for Congress. She said he was “a good conservative, a strong fighter, somebody you should definitely pay attention to.”

But before the 2012 election, Viers dropped out of the race after being charged with harassing a former girlfriend. The girlfriend showed police a three-ring binder detailing dozens of phone calls, texts and emails from Viers after she told him she didn’t want to speak to him again.

Viers resigned from the state House and pleaded guilty to second-degree harassment in January. He was on probation when he was charged with money laundering in August 2014.

In 2007, Viers pleaded no contest to unlawful communication and was fined $500 for threats made to a man who was dating Viers’ estranged wife at that time.

Viers’ attorney in that case, fellow state Rep. Todd Rutherford, said after that plea that the charge was an attempt to get back at Viers, who acted “under the influence of love.”

Topics Legislation South Carolina