Posted on 06/09/2009 11:48:57 AM PDT by Armedanddangerous
Logan County Politician indicted
Read the indictment here.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A former member of West Virginia's House of Delegates has been indicted by a federal grand jury on racketeering, gambling, obstruction and bribery charges for allegedly running illegal gambling rings in West Virginia and Kentucky.
Joe C. Ferrell is charged with bribing elected officials, including a former mayor of Logan and former Logan County sheriff, so that they would turn a blind eye to his illegal gambling enterprise, according to the 48-count indictment.
Ferrell, 62, of Chapmanville, is also accused of buying votes in Logan County during various campaigns and with bribing investigators with the West Virginia Lottery.
Joe C. is one of those archtypical Southern West Virginia politicians you may have heard about. He’s friends with everyone and half the people in Logan County have their jobs due to his influence.
He may well know enough to bring down some bigwigs. He’s one of the people you gotta go through to get votes in Logan.
This is really a big deal hereabouts..no telling who he will bring down to get out from under this.
No mention of political party in title, subtitle, first sentence, or first paragraph.
Therefore he must be a democrat.
Delegate Joe C. Ferrell, D-Logan
what about that corrupt bunch in Mingo County and over in Kentucky in Pike County? There’s so much corruption in the county courthouse....that Pike County Judge is being investigated by the State Auditor; FBI is in Mingo County.
Indeed he is a dummy..He’s one of the really dirty ones down here too..Its my fault for not adding that tidbit..my bad.
We’ve been waiting two years for the feds to get Joe C.
All DEMS....
WV ping thing!
Interstate racketeering. Will he be brought up on RICO charges and have all of his assets seized prior to trial? Or is that only for drug dealers and the anti-abortion movement?
You are so right!!
my thoughts exactly....
I knew about this investigation three years ago and that the feds served a warrant on his companies two years ago when I was associated with a newspaper overthere.
what he has is a company that rents out pinball machines, video games and video poker machines to bars and restaurants. Video Poker is a big deal in this state.
This is where the Hatfields and McCoys duked it out. Sounds like the area hasn’t had a whole lot of improvement in the corruption department since then.
Legacy of Arch Moore.
But 3 years ago the culture of corruption was strictly in the GOP and it rose to the highest ranks. I know because the DNCMSM Pravda Media told me in 2006 that Democrats needed to be in control of Congress to clean house.
Pelosi’s Congress is the most ethical now, right? The media hasn’t challenged that perception.
there really isnt much of a different between the pro business dems and republicans. The dems just DON’T TELL YOU theyre gonna vote for a republican.
One reason that slot machines, jukeboxes, etc. are licensed is that you can launder money through them (claim the receipts came in through the slot).
Politicians and a few businessmen run Lincoln,Logan,Mingo, McDowell, and Wyoming Counties as their personal fiefdoms. Corrupt and illegal as all get out, but in a strange way the system and its patronage keeps the serfs employed, food on their tables, and a roof over their heads. Legitimate employment is hard to find in Southern WV.
I never thought of that...thats interesting.
The mob ran the jukebox racket for awhile.
And I meant to say pinball machines (which in the 1940s also “paid out”) over slot machines (which are strictly supposed to be odds based, not skill based).
He IS the mob...or rather their southern WV sales representative.
Video poker pays out in legal clubs in WV for the past six or seven years
Right, and the machines are probably audited regularly to make sure they are paying the stated odds (unlike state lotteries which offer the “same odds” even when all of the top 25 prizes have already been claimed).
Gasoline pumps are also audited to make sure that the gallon of gas you buy really is at least 1 gallon.
Here in WV, the GOP ain't far behind the Rats when it comes to corruption.
Sleazy corrupt politicians are normal in WV. And why not? The people won’t even get rid of Grand Kleagle Byrd, the biggest crook of all. I have some relatives that still live in southern WV. There has been so much of this unlawfulness that by this time it’s expected that all people running for office or office holders to be crooked.
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