Medford is Sentenced

October 12, 2008

You all followed it in the news consistently, wondering if Sheriff Bobby Medford would be found guilty of gambling and bribery as it pertained to a video poker gambling ring that the sheriff was running. He had people underneath him that were tied to it as well, and one by one they came forward to testify against him.

On Monday, those people and more came to see what fate Medford would get for his part in the poker scam. He was sentenced to 15 years behind bars for taking bribes from video poker operators.

Medford was the sheriff of Buncombe County for 12 years and during that time it is estimated that he made somewhere around $300,000 for his troubles. Medford declined to address the court before his hearing, and US District Court Judge Tim Ellis had no sympathy for him.

Ellis said that “public corruption is a cancer on our society” and that he had betrayed the “public trust.” Medford, 63, was convicted in May and had been awaiting sentencing for the crimes he is accused of committing.

His attorney tried to show another side of Medford, talking about all the good he had done for the community in those 12 years, and referencing his age and health when asking for leniency. However, the judge was obviously not impressed. The Assistant US Attorney Richard Edwards said that he felt the sentence wasn’t long enough.