Tarnished Hopes: Corruption Surrounds Ex-Sheriff's Tenure.

Record Number: 
BARN002
Citation: 

Barnhill, Jane Blanks. Sacred Grounds: "Gone but Not Forgotten". St. Pauls, NC: Jane Blanks Barnhill, 2007. 374 p. Key source

Annotation: 

This article provides both background and recent information on Glenn Maynor—sheriff of Robeson County from 1994 until his resignation in December 2004—within the context of the Operation Tarnished Badge investigation. Operation Tarnished Badge is a federal investigation into corruption, particularly in relation to drug trafficking, by deputies in the Robeson County Sheriff’'s Department. The charges that have been, or will be, brought thus far are for offenses allegedly committed during Maynor’s tenure as sheriff. Maynor himself has not been charged thus far; but the investigation is ongoing, and prosecutors will not say whether or not he is under investigation. Early in his career, Maynor worked for the Lumberton Police Department, first as a dispatcher and then as the department’s first Indian patrol officer. During his tenure as a patrol officer, he witnessed deputies treating people badly, including both verbal and physical abuse. He developed a desire to do something about this behavior. After about four years, Maynor left the police department to work for seventeen years as director of the Lumberton Housing Authority; he also served on the Lumberton City Council for eighteen years. Maynor ran for sheriff in 1990 and was narrowly defeated by longtime incumbent Hubert Stone. Then, in 1994, Maynor ran again, this time winning and becoming Robeson County’s first Lumbee sheriff. The article relates that during his 1994 installation speech, Maynor stated, “I want to be remembered in history as the sheriff that united this county racially and brought it together.” Then, looking at the thirty deputies assembled behind him, he said, “If I think or hear of any evidence that they’re taking any kind of bribe, I’ll fire them.” The article quotes Leroy Freeman—a longtime friend of Maynor’s who served as his campaign strategist—who sees Maynor as “a good man” who “tried to do a good job” and questions the fact that the investigation is dragging on, rather than coming to a close. Freeman states, “It’s obvious they are trying to look and trying to find any penny-ante thing and make it into a mountain.” Mark Locklear, who worked as chief of detectives under Sheriff Hubert Stone and then, for two years, as Maynor’s chief of the Drug Enforcement Division, wonders, as have others, whether Maynor was unaware of the deputies’ alleged criminal actions. Locklear states, “Glenn hadn’t been in the trenches, hadn’t worked investigations, didn’t have grassroots knowledge, so he wasn’t able to know what to look for as to whether his employees were providing effective service.” The article concludes with a list of the twelve deputies who served under Maynor and have been charged as part of Operation Tarnished Badge; a brief recounting of the charges against each deputy; and whether each one has pled guilty or is still facing charges.

First Appeared in 1994 Book?: 
no
Publication Type: 
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