Episode 3: Wright Goes Wrong

Summer 2024. Chuck Wright had just won his sixth election with 87% of the vote. But the victory lap wouldn’t last long.In Episode 3 of FOX Carolina Investigates: Chuck Wright, the walls start closing in. It begins with a family hire — Wright’s son joins the sheriff’s office, and complaints start flooding the State Ethics Commission. Three people file grievances, including Wright’s 2024 primary opponent Nick Duncan. Wright brushes it off as political enemies trying to “Donald Trump” him.Then comes the spending. A county credit card. And suddenly, Wright — who always had an answer for everything — goes quiet. For a man who never met a camera he didn’t like, the silence is deafening.But there’s more brewing in the background. Attorney Adrienne Turner sues to get public records from Operation Rolling Thunder — Wright’s signature drug enforcement operation on I-85. When the documents finally come out in August 2024, they reveal a troubling pattern: more than 70% of searches turned up nothing. Black drivers made up 74% of stops, despite being less than 15% of the population. And officers weren’t documenting failed searches.The sheriff’s office would end Operation Rolling Thunder after Wright resigned.So how does a sheriff who survived scandal after scandal for two decades suddenly find himself facing federal charges? The answer is in the details — and they’re starting to pile up.🎧 New episodes every Monday. FOX Carolina Investigates: Chuck Wright is building toward Wright's federal sentencing on July 7.