UPDATED, 2/27/25 | Federal authorities on Wednesday charged two members of North Charleston City Council and two others with federal crimes in a sweeping public corruption investigation related to bribery, extortion, money laundering, wire fraud and other kickback schemes. Another council member and three others were indicted. Charges are detailed at the end of this story.
Among those charged with felonies were:
- Council member Jerome Sydney Heyward, 61, elected to represent the city’s District 5. He reportedly resigned ahead of a press conference held by the U.S. Justice Department.
- Council member Sandino Savalas Moses, 50, who represents District 3;
- Donavan Laval Moten, 46, founder of Core4Success Foundation; and
- Aaron Charles-Lee Hicks, 37, of North Charleston.
The four agreed to plead guilty to various charges in federal court Friday morning, according to acting U.S. Attorney for the District of South Carolina, Brook B. Andrews.
According to the Justice Department, among those indicted on charges related to the scandal were:
- Council member Mike A. Brown, 46, who represents District 1. (Note: There are three councilmen named Michael Brown who serve on North Charleston City Council. Only Mike A. Brown of District 1 is named as being charged.)
- Hason Tatorian Fields, 51, of Goose Creek;
- Rose Emily Lorenzo, 65, of North Carolina; and
- Michelle Stent-Hilton, 56, of North Charleston.
The four who were indicted will go through the criminal justice process, and they can elect to plead guilty or go to trial, authorities said. They are expected to be arraigned in March.
‘A profound betrayal’
The charges follow a 12-month investigation by the FBI and the State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) into three different allegations of corruption. Court documents alleged charges stemmed from three different acts: a scheme to solicit payments in exchange for an official action, rezoning of the historic Baker Hospital site in North Charleston and the city’s violence reduction grants, Andrews said.
“When elected officials take their oath of office, they make a sacred promise to the people they serve,” Andrews said at a Wednesday afternoon press conference. “They pledge to uphold the law, act with integrity and place the public interest over their own. Public service should never merely be a job. It is a public trust.
“The allegations in this case describe a profound betrayal of that trust,” he continued. “These council members used their positions not to serve their community but to enrich themselves. They traded the power entrusted to them by the city of North Charleston for their own personal gain.”
FBI Special Agent Steve Jensen, who leads the bureau’s Columbia Field Office, echoed the significance of the charges.
“Public trust in our elected officials is a fundamental pillar of our democracy, and it should never be taken for granted,” he said. “Unfortunately, as alleged in these indictments, the defendants abused that trust, using their positions of power and influence to orchestrate back-door deals for personal gain.”
North Charleston Mayor Reggie Burgess, the city’s former police chief, said Wednesday that the investigation and subsequent charges were necessary to build a safer and brighter future for the city.
“From the outset, the city has fully cooperated with this inquiry, embracing the opportunity to ensure the continued trust and confidence of our community,” he said in a press release. “Transparency and accountability remain core principles of this administration, and we welcomed this review as a necessary step to uphold those standards.
“We appreciate the community’s patience and support during this process and assure you that our focus remains, as always, on building a safer and brighter future for North Charleston.”
Charges levied against 4
According to authorities, Heyward is charged in three separate schemes in which he allegedly used his position as a North Charleston City Councilman to enrich himself through bribes, kickbacks and extortion and to deprive the citizens and the government of North Charleston of their intangible right to the honest and faithful services of the North Charleston City Council.
In a series of schemes, Heyward allegedly:
- extorted a businessman by soliciting payments in exchange for his official action as a city councilman;
- conspired with Brown and Hicks to solicit and accept bribes in exchange for his support of the rezoning of the Baker Hospital site; and
- conspired with Moten, Lorenzo and Stent-Hilton to embezzle funds belonging to North Charleston by soliciting and accepting kickbacks from nonprofit organizations run by Moten and Stent-Hilton that received violence-reduction grant funds from the city.
Heyward has agreed to plead guilty and faces a maximum term of federal imprisonment of 20 years, a fine of $500,000 and three years of supervised release, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office.
According to court documents, Moses agreed to plead guilty to “misprision of a felony” (intentionally concealing information regarding a felony) after he allegedly knew that Fields and others attempted to bribe him and failed to disclose that criminal conduct. Moses faces a maximum term of federal imprisonment of three years, a fine of $250,000 and a maximum term of supervised release of one year.
Moten reportedly has agreed to plead guilty to bribery, conspiracy to commit bribery, honest-services wire fraud and money laundering, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office. He faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years, a fine of $500,000 and a three years of supervised release.
Officials said Hicks has agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy to pay bribes to Brown and Heyward and a separate conspiracy with Fields to bribe Moses in exchange for their influence and support of the rezoning of the Baker Hospital site. Hicks faces a maximum term of federal imprisonment of 20 years, a fine of $250,000 and three years of supervised release.
Four others indicted
Brown, the council member, is charged with conspiring with Heyward and Hicks to commit bribery and honest-services wire fraud. An indictment alleges Brown solicited and accepted bribes from Hicks — working on behalf of a company requesting the rezoning of the Baker Hospital site — in exchange for his support. Brown faces a maximum term of federal imprisonment of 20 years, a fine of $250,000 and three years of supervised release.
Stent-Hilton is charged with bribery, conspiracy to commit bribery, money laundering and honest-services wire fraud, according to court documents. She faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years, a fine of $500,000 and three years of supervised release.
Fields is charged with bribery, conspiracy to commit bribery and honest-services wire fraud, officials said. Fields faces a maximum term of federal imprisonment of 20 years, a fine of $250,000 and three years of supervised release.
Lorenzo is charged with bribery, conspiracy to commit bribery and honest-services wire fraud, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office. Lorenzo faces a maximum term of federal imprisonment of 20 years, a fine of $500,000 and three years of supervised release.
Heyward, Moten, Hicks and Moses are scheduled to plead guilty before U.S. District Judge Richard M. Gergel on Friday. Brown, Stent-Hilton, Fields and Lorenzo will be arraigned on their charges in March.
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