FOX Carolina Investigates

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.

Before the FBI came knocking, Chuck Wright was one of the most colorful sheriffs in South Carolina history. In this episode, we pull back the curtain on what made Wright such a larger-than-life figure in Spartanburg County — and why reporters couldn't get enough of him. FOX Carolina photographer Mindy Cecil spent 17 of Wright's 20 years in office by his side, and she's got the stories to prove it. From the moment Wright told her he bought his truck "with drug money" to the weekly Most Wanted segment — an idea Wright himself pitched — Mindy shares what it was really like to work with the man who was never short on soundbites. Then, the case that defined his tenure: serial killer Todd Kohlhepp. In November 2016, Wright's office cracked open one of the county's most horrifying chapters — rescuing Kala Brown from a storage container, recovering the body of Charlie Carver, and closing a 13-year-old cold case tied to the Superbike Motorsports murders. Two days after it all unfolded, Wright won re-election with 85% of the vote. So how does a sheriff go from that kind of moment to a federal guilty plea? That's what this season is all about. New episodes drop every Monday. FOX Carolina Investigates: Chuck Wright is building toward Wright's federal sentencing on July 7.

For twenty years, Chuck Wright was the law in Spartanburg County. Then the law came for him. In Season 1, Episode 1 of FOX Carolina Investigates: Chuck Wright, we go back to the very beginning — rewinding the tape to 2004, when a deputy from a small mill town pulled off a stunning political upset and became one of the most powerful men in Upstate South Carolina. He won six elections. He launched Operation Rolling Thunder. He showed up at crime scenes, chased suspects and built a reputation as a tough, God-fearing lawman. But behind the badge, warning signs were there — if you knew where to look. In 2016, a former colleague went to the FBI. He had documents. He had concerns. And he had a warning that almost nobody took seriously. Wright denied it all. No charges. No consequences. Not yet.  With Wright's federal sentencing now weeks away, FOX Carolina's senior investigative reporter Grace Runkel breaks down the rise of a man whose fall would shock an entire county. 🎧 New episodes every Monday. Follow so you never miss one.