Bobby Medford

Former Buncombe County Sheriff Bobby Medford was found guilty last Thursday in Asheville of using his position to extort money from gambling operators, money laundering and conspiracy to run an illegal gambling business.

The crimes could put Medford behind bars for life. He is expected to be sentenced in about six weeks.
Twenty-four people — including former deputies — involved in illegal video gambling already had pleaded guilty in connection with the case.

A career lawman, Medford served as sheriff from 1994 to 2006.

Medford was given thousands of dollars a year so that poker operators could run their parlors unmolested, according to testimony. He, in turn, was pumping thousands of dollars per year into the machines at Harrah’s Cherokee Casino, the court determined.

Medford testified that he did not know what was going on, insofar as illegal gambling is concerned.
Prosecutor Richard Edwards used reams of evidence, dozens of witnesses and a load of financial records to prove his case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Corey Ellis, who assisted Edwards, suggested that the jurors would have to drink from “the decanter of insanity” to accept Medford’s defense.

The jury took slightly more than two hours to find Medford and his associate Guy Penland guilty on all 11 counts.