A recording released by the Jason Soles for sheriff campaign appears to show Sheriff Jody Greene cursing and threatening to fire black employees of the sheriff’s office.
Greene questions the timing of the release, since early voting is due to start in October and the election is Nov. 8. The recording was given to a Wilmington television station this week.
Based on the recording, the District Attorney’s Office has requested the State Bureau of Investigation look into possible obstruction of justice by the sheriff’s office. SBI Spokesperson Annette Grube confirmed that the investigation is underway.
“On Sept. 27, District Attorney Jon David requested the SBI to investigate allegations of obstruction of justice concerning the Columbus County Sheriff’s Office,” Grube said in an email. “This is an ongoing investigation. No additional information is available at this time.”
District Attorney Jon David received a copy of the recording earlier this week. In an email, David confirmed he made the SBI request Tuesday. He did not specify what led to the obstruction allegations, and refused further comment.
“I realize there is intense public interest regarding this matter,” David said, “but I am constrained by a code of ethics from being able to comment on a pending investigation.
“At this juncture, we will not be releasing the specifics of our written request to the SBI because we do not want to compromise the integrity of the investigation. Having said that, I can confirm that I made a written request for an SBI investigation related to Sheriff Jody Greene and deputies under his command for obstruction of justice on Tuesday… I expect to provide additional details in the future.”
In a statement released on social media Wednesday, Greene questioned the timing of the release of the three-year-old recording, and hinted that it could have been digitally manipulated. He said he felt the bombshell recording is an attempt to paint the sheriff as a racist and increase racial tensions in the county.
“In my opinion, Jason’s (Soles) intent with the recording was to further incite racial division and to use the racial division to pursue his personal agenda of a political run for office,” Greene wrote. “I feel the recording is a personal attack, an attack on my accomplishments as Sheriff, and an attempt to discredit the successful work of the Sheriff’s Office for the last four years.
“If Jason had any good intent with the use of this video, why was it not released when he recorded it in 2019? Using a video almost four years later to reflect negatively on another individual does not demonstrate ‘good moral character’ of Jason Soles.”
The recording was made in February 2019, when Soles was appointed by the courts as acting head of the sheriff’s office. Soles, who was a captain at the time, actively campaigned for former sheriff Lewis Hatcher. Greene won the election by fewer than 40 votes in November 2018.
Hatcher and the Columbus Community Forum questioned Greene’s residency, among other issues, and petitioned the board of election to put Greene’s swearing in on hold. Soles was appointed to the position over the sheriff’s office while the case made its way through the courts. In June of that year, Greene was finally officially able to take over the sheriff’s office.
Soles told WECT that he began recording the conversation because he was shocked at Greene’s language and statements about two black employees, Jeremy Barber and Clementine Thompson, at the sheriff’s office. Thompson was eventually dismissed, and Barber resigned due to personal reasons. The recording has Greene referring to “black bastards” and making other defamatory statements. He also calls for the dismissal of all black Democrats working for the sheriff’s office.
Soles was a captain when he resigned from the sheriff’s office over allegations of insubordination and favoring specific employees at the sheriff’s office. Greene said the resignation came after the sheriff confronted Soles about not implementing better checks and balances in the agency, and issues with recordkeeping, especially regarding the evidence room.
Missing evidence and poor recordkeeping were just a few of the problems Greene found, according to the sheriff’s statement.
“Several hundred cases were identified that were not properly investigated or uninvestigated, including homicides, under the supervision Jason Soles,” Green said. “Another significant issue discovered after I took office was the limited checks and balances and lack of control in evidence collected for cases.
“Jason Soles was the supervising employee for this task and never addressed the issues. Jason Soles’ response to poor performance was to resign from his position at the Sheriff’s Office.”
Greene also said that Soles provided Green with information about the Hatcher campaign while still working for the previous sheriff.
Soles told WECT that he spent much of the past three years trying to find someone to listen to the recording. Soles said he attempted to share the recording with multiple officials, including approaching the county commissioners during a recess at a recent meeting, but only Commissioner Giles “Buddy” Byrd would listen.
Byrd, a Democrat, has been a staunch critic of Greene’s since before the 2018 election. Byrd was arrested after Greene ordered an investigation into the alleged theft of a storage building Byrd took from a campground he owns at Lake Waccamaw. The case was eventually dismissed.
“Byrd has made several statements out in the communities that he is willing to spend a million dollars to have me removed from office,” Greene said in the statement. He also said in the post that that Byrd told the sheriff to “watch out” because “an election is coming.”
Greene also said Byrd uses closed sessions of the commissioners meetings to “spread gossip and lies” about the sheriff’s office. Other sources confirmed the accusation to Columbus County News. Depending on what Byrd allegedly said, such statements could be a violation of the state’s open meetings laws.
Soles told the television station that all of the county commissioners except Byrd supported the sheriff, and that was why they refused to take action about the recording.
Greene admitted that he does curse sometimes, but denied any racial motivation in any of his statements. He noted that the lack of black deputies and command staff is due to a shortage of candidates, not racism. Statewide, officials are struggling with a lack of black law enforcement officers due to better opportunities and perceived pressure in the black community to avoid law enforcement.
“If you look at all surrounding agencies, we all lack a balance of races to fill positions. I do have strong minority leaders moving up in the ranks and they have all the advantages that anyone else has and I will support them in their careers.
“I adamantly deny any racial intent or actions on my part,” Greene said. “I acknowledge there were racial tensions during the 2018 certification of the election and that the media and some members in the community were referring to the two political sides as black and white. And I also acknowledge that I use (explicit) language but deny using it with (malicious) intent.”
Greene said he welcomes an investigation into his office and his actions.
“I will cooperate fully with any investigation. The Sheriff’s Office that I lead will not be bullied or intimidated. We will serve all citizens no matter their race, color, or creed. We do not pick and choose the cases we investigate. This is not only an attack on me this is an attack on the entire Sheriff’s Office and its employees.”
Soles did not return a request for comment.
