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Spartanburg clerk of court arrested

The Greenville News (South Carolina)
BYLINE: Paul Alongi Staff writer,

Spartanburg, SC

The FBI will investigate the integrity of the evidence room at the Spartanburg County Courthouse after Clerk of Court Marcus Woodrow Kitchens was accused of taking drugs out of a courthouse evidence vault and conspiring with a real estate developer to sell them in Florida.

Kitchens and Terry Glenn Lanford, of Spartanburg County, were charged in a federal criminal complaint with conspiring to possess with intent to distribute cocaine and methamphetamine.

The complaint was filed in U.S. District Court in Spartanburg and unsealed Tuesday following a months-long investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration.

U.S. Attorney Kevin McDonald said the FBI has been called to investigate the integrity of the evidence room. He said he didn't know of any cases affected by missing drugs.

Seventh Circuit Solicitor Trey Gowdy said the clerk of court had access to seized drugs and other contraband related to cases that have gone to trial. That could become important if an affected case is appealed or challenged through post-conviction relief, Gowdy said.

"There are lots of things in jeopardy right now, mainly people's confidence in the justice system," Gowdy said.

Gov. Mark Sanford appointed Kitchens to his post in 2003 after Mark Hammond resigned to take over as secretary of state. Kitchens, a Republican, retained his job in 2008 by winning an unopposed election.

Sanford has the power to suspend Kitchens after receiving a grand jury indictment, spokesman Ben Fox said. No indictment had been filed in court.

Kitchens and Lanford were arrested Tuesday at a Spartanburg restaurant after law enforcement officers monitored a meeting between the two that involved the exchange of $3,000 from Lanford to Kitchens, McDonald said. The name of the restaurant wasn't released.

Magistrate Judge Bruce Howe Hendricks ordered that Kitchens post a secured bond of $25,000 surrender the keys to the Spartanburg County Courthouse and not return. She set a $25,000 unsecured bond for Lanford.

DEA Special Agent Matthew Rammes wrote in an affidavit that an Orlando, Fla., drug trafficker who was arrested last year agreed to cooperate with authorities.

Staff writer Paul Alongi can be reached at 864-298-4746

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