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HONEA PATH — A SLED investigation into magistrate Billy Gilmer for filing a false police report in Honea Path released this week, shows that not only did Gilmer lie to police, but that his wife councilwoman Fredda Gilmer was complicit in the cover-up.
According to the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division report, Gilmer admitted in Oct. 2007 that he had lied to SLED investigators and was experiencing health problems.
On Aug. 9, 2007, Gilmer filed a complaint with Honea Path Police Chief David King that a woman had called the magistrate’s office on Aug. 8, 2007 and said “you better watch your back.”
Gilmer told King he felt threatened and wanted a report on the phone calls coming into his office, police reports indicate.
King said in a statement to SLED that he obtained a warrant for the records and asked that a rush be put on the report from BellSouth. When the phone company sent the report, it was sealed, he said.
“Sometime between 8 a.m. and 8:30 a.m., Judge Gilmer approached me asking if we had received the results of the phone search,” King said in his statement. “I told him it was a cell number and may require another search warrant. He ask (sic) had I called the number yet and I advise him “No” I wanted to do further investigations, he requested the number so he could call it. I told him we were going to do the investigation without him calling the number as he has done in past cases. I told him he didn’t get it both ways. He told me to do it my way…”
Later, King said, in an argument with Gilmer over the number, Gilmer admitted to King that the caller had told him Gilmer’s wife was having an affair with the caller’s husband.
King also spoke with councilwoman Gilmer who, he said, told him “not to investigate the leads.”
King also said Councilwoman Gilmer asked him “not to give Billy the number and to get a phone in a box and give Billy that number to divert him away from the real caller.”
According to her statement to SLED, Councilwoman Gilmer and her husband told her the calls had upset her and that he had tape recorded the call with the woman. She said in her statement that they agreed to get rid of the tape.
Councilwoman Gilmer denied any affair.
Since then, according to letters from the South Carolina Attorney General’s Office, Magistrate Gilmer has been placed on pre-trial intervention in Greenwood County. Because he is a judicial officer in Anderson County, pretrial intervention in Anderson County would have been a conflict, according to Alan Wilson, Assistant Attorney General.
“After careful review and several discussions, Mr. Gilmer was allowed to enter Pre-Trial Intervention due to the fact that he was a first time offender with no prior record and this was a non-violent offense,” he wrote in a letter to King.
But King has additional questions, such as why Gilmer was not arrested, booked and finger-printed.
“Anderson County PTI would not accept Magistrate Gilmer unless he was arrested. This fact now brings up further questions,” King wrote in a letter to Wilson dated Sept 12. “I would like an explanation as to how Magistrate Gilmer can enter PTI without being arrested, booked and fingerprinted. I am aware that Magistrate Gilmer’s case would meet the requirements for PTI but I cannot locate any exclusion to the arrest, booking and fingerprint procedure that is standard in South Carolina prior to PTI recommendation.”
A call to Wilson was not returned.
Mayor Lollis Meyers could not be reached for comment on Friday evening.
A call to the Gilmer house was not answered, nor was the call returned.
In his statement to SLED, however, Gilmer apologized for his actions.
“I am contacting Senator Billy O’Dell who appointed me to inform him of this matter and to personally apologize to him for not telling the truth,” Gilmer wrote. “I would like to apologize to the Commission and ask for your understanding and mercy be granted unto me. I realize this was bad judgment on my part and am truly sorry.
“As a husband, when it comes to my wife of 38 years of whom I love dearly, I felt that our personal life was being threatened. Again, I am truly sorry and I take responsibility for my actions.”
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i'm sure they will find a way to enter PTI w/ out being arrested or sweep the entire thing under the rug & be forgotten all together,Gilmer will call in a favor to someone.
Sounds like the title should be Sex Lies and Audio Tape. The Gilmers have always covered up there own skeletons but the first to point fingers at other people. Not the first affair scandal either.Gilmer never got health problems over telling lies before. It must be the getting caught giving Him indigestion.
in response to JustTheFacts2010
It never ceases to amaze me how people in power use poor health to excuse breaking the law. As though it is something they will "get better" from. Not having morals or character, is not something like a cold, that passes in a few days. How can someone be a magistrate passing judgments on people when he knows the truth from a lie, but chooses to lie over the truth to accomplish his own ends. This is the same magistrate that held traffic hearings and other municipal court functions without a tape recorder or any prrof of the proceedings and didn't mind threatening someone with more severe charges if they didn't go along with what he did. Time has shown him to disregard the rights of citizens when it comes to his courtroom. Maybe now we know why. He didn't want anyone to catch him in a lie.
in response to vanhoose
So you know him too. Always bullying to get his way. He had to do a lot of snooping on the one he loves dearly in the last 38 years.Does he dearly love her or the MONEY. As for court....How did you get to see him? You must have blocked his car and not let him leave. Everybody know no danger of over work in his MAGISTATE COURT. No chance of over heating either, If he has to put on the Judging Robe for a minit the short pants he wears to work will keep him from getting to hot. If that dont work he can cool off at the fire hydrant he parks in front off everyday. Can we say ABOVE THE LAW. Seems like his days are over. Of course he still has the beer busness.
As mayor of HP and at the time of a different Chief of Police, coverups were common. If drug dealers had connections or were important families in town, they somehow could never be caught. One dealer would sell on Main Street in front of the Police Department often. Gilmer has always been shady. If Senator O'Dell is involved in helping dear ole Billy from being arrested, shame on him! Could you & I get away with filing a false police report? Billy was a nobody before he married his wife who has always been above the rest because of her family. How she has lived with him is a mystery.
how can she stay on town council after lying to SLED? how can he stay a judge after lying to police and SLED? seems they BOTH are above the law. who ever has let this happen seems guilt too. what would have happened if you or i done these things? what does it take to get them out of these positions? seems who ever has that power are sitting on his/her hands. looks like the people of honea path needs to speak up and show up at the next town council meeting to voice their opinions on the Gilmers. they could ask for her to be REMOVED .i would'nt want to be having her on my towns council. him passing judgement and sentance on others, no he should have been removed a long time ago for his lies. why are they getting SPECIAL treatment? we sure would'nt be getting the same special treatments, but we're not GILMERS.
in response to scoop90
This is typical Honea Path politics. Sweep it under the rug. The only reason I can think of special treatment is because of her deceased father's importance to HP/State of SC. I am glad the HP Police Chief is searching for answers. He knows this is not right & the residents of HP do need to show up at the council meeting. For Mr. Gilmer to avoid being booked & avoids going thru Anderson's PTI, someone is helping their ole pal out. How could he go thru Abbeville's PTI & not Anderson's anyway? If he is a magistrate judge in Anderson county, how can this happen? Chief King seems to want the same questions answered & he is very smart in doing so.
your right kickit. cheif king , keep up the great work. we need more like you in these high offices.he'd get out all the bad apples. also, nobody seems to care that the woman who called judge gilmer could have been arrested for threating a judge. i guess it would have been ok for her to get arrested as long as THE JUDGE could check up on his wife. i hope this woman sues the GILMERS.
Waits on cwilson to somehow blame JP for part of this. *LOL*
in response to clemson_girl
Now you've done it! You will be accused of being in love with JP for bringing up his name. LOL Just wait til cwilson sees this LOL
lol seems JP and the GILMERS have the same problems. running around and cover-ups.
this would never happened with the old police cheif because he and 1st madam of H.P. had a SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP .
Don't ya just love a story which raises more question.
A different mayor and a different chief!!!
we know the story there. the former mayor /now magistrate and the former police chief had several things in common back then, including the cause of this scandle.
Is this scandal over the same players?
Or is there a new player out there somewhere.Its strange the former chief is now running for council and they will sit side by side.Somethings seem so strange. Other questions raised is how will the mayor and council handle a council person interfering with police investigations. The chief did'nt like the interference and reported to sled. AIM reports council lady conspired to lie to sled. Where is the head magistate when all this investigating her Honea Path judge is going on. Don't ya just love answeres which raise more questions
I hope Chief King continues to stand up for what he knows is wrong! I wouldn't be surprised if the town suddenly tries to get run him off, but I hope not. The Town of Honea Path is due an honest person who is not trying to lick up to the people who think their important & beyond the laws that every day citizens have to abide by. If the former chief is elected to council, HP may take away some of the attention from Anderson city & county councils. It would not be a good situation. I have never had any respect or our wonderful magistrate or the former chief!
say NO to GILMER coruption!!! please contact our mayor, town council , and state senator for there REMOVAL! please sign the Petition when you are asked. stand up and clean up our town.
in response to scoop90
Now that the Belton News Chronicle came out the gosip(news) has really spread.Most talked about church gosip(news)in awhile.Can't go nowhere without hearing it. No shockers in the story. Both lie and deceipt for there own reasons.Everybody just whispering more names. Got to admitt I heard some new ones. The former chief aint the the only one according to reports.Guess BG makes enough money at the beer landing to fund her fun.
There are multiple reasons why the town can't take action and fire the magistrate and Mrs. Gilmer. The first being that Billy is a magistrate, that isn't a city position. The city does not have the power to appoint or fire magistrate judges. Secondly, Mrs. Gilmer has not been charged with committing a crime. She was elected by the citizens within her ward for the position that she is in. It is extremely difficult to fire someone that is in an elected position unless they commit and are charged with and convicted of a crime. The best thing to do is to stop passing out your petition and begin looking toward preventing her from being reelected. I don't condone what she has done, but it is not the mayor's fault or any police chief we have had or any other town official's fault that she is in office, it is the citizens of her council ward that elected her. The police chief did what he needed to do in this situation he reported the situation to the higher authorities and they have passed down a verdict. The town officials are still seeking to determine why the current verdict was passed down, but I don't feel it is likely that they get anything overturned or that you will see her go to court or be fired. Even though you may not think so, we have some good officials in our town now and they are trying to get things worked out. So, do me, and yourself a favor, take that petition and grab it with two hands at the top of the page push one hand one way and the other hand the opposite so that the paper rips in two because there is no need for it, and besides they are pointless. Oh yea and to everyone else in the town: Don't listen to anybody trying to say you should go up to the town council meeting and make a huge show, because it will likely not change anything, it will only make our town officials job more difficult to do.
in response to hpusc3218
i diagree, as do others. BOTH should be removed by what ever legal means it takes. town council, mayor and our state senator needs to know how we feel . SHE'S NOT ONLY ELECTED BY HER WARD. IT'S THE WHOLE TOWN THAT VOTED HER IN OFFICE AND THATS WHO SHOULD HELP REMOVE HER. HER ACTIONS MAKES US ALL LOOK BAD!!!
scoop&hpusc make some good points. One is appointed and the other elected. The citizens have a say so in electing the senator who makes the appointment. The citizens also can express there concerns about her remaining on the town council. AIM and BNC reported they admitted to lieing to sled and police.She wanted the chief to buy a phone in the box and give the number to Gilmer so he could call it. They conspired together to do this after he got caught and turned over to sled. They both used politics to not get arrested. scoop is right THEY make us all look bad. If any body gets sentenced in his court there case should be dismissed.
Now look at the Clerk of court Cathy Phillips case. She gets carted of to jail...Photo allover the AIM 10-04-08 Whats the difference here. It seems to be OK to lie to SLED just don't lie to the TAX MAN
Now we learn in the Honea Path paper there are more LIES. Gilmer did not complete PTI as he told everybody.He didn't even get started good before he got kicked out for trying to pull favors. No suprise about that. He aint going to take his punishment like a man. Maybe his wife will do his time for him. If she wasn't being personal/friendly with the womans husband there wouldn't have been any phone calls to the Judge. LIES LIES LIES. How many can they tell???????Is anybody keeping count????
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