Two former North Charleston councilmembers, others charged in federal corruption investigation set to plead guilty

CHARLESTON COUNTY, S.C. (WCBD) — Two former North Charleston councilmembers and two others are set to plead guilty to federal charges Friday following a year-long public corruption investigation.

Eight people, including Councilmembers Jerome Heyward, Mike A. Brown, and Sandino Moses, face charges for their roles in various alleged schemes. The charges unveiled by prosecutors on Wednesday include bribery, extortion, misprision of a felony wire fraud, and money laundering, among others.

Half of those defendants — Heyward, Moses, and associates Aaron Hicks and Donavan Moten –have agreed to plead guilty and are expected to appear before a federal judge in Charleston County on Friday morning.

Heyward is accused of using his position as a North Charleston City Councilman to “engage in three schemes to personally enrich himself through bribes, kickbacks, and extortion.” He is also accused of embezzling funds belonging to the city by soliciting and accepting payments from non-profit organizations that received grant funds from the city in exchange for his official action.

As for Moses, information gathered through the year-long investigation determined that he knew that some attempted to bribe him and paid him bribes but that he failed to disclose that criminal conduct and instead took steps to conceal the bribes by returning the money.

Heyward and Moses have since resigned from the city council. Gov. Henry McMaster’s office suspended Brown.

The remaining four defendants are set to be arraigned in March.

This story is developing and will be updated.