Charles Ray Sharpe (born September 6, 1938) is a former American politician in the state of

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

. He served in the

South Carolina House of Representatives The South Carolina House of Representatives is the lower house of the South Carolina General Assembly. It consists of 124 representatives elected to two-year terms at the same time as U.S. congressional elections. Unlike many legislatures, seati ...

as a member of the Republican Party from 1985 to 2002, representing Aiken County. He resides in Wagener. He was a magazine publisher. Sharpe also served as South Carolina Agriculture Commissioner from 2002 to 2004. He resigned in 2004 after being indicted on charges of extortion, money laundering and lying to federal investigators, stemming from an illegal

cockfighting A cockfight is a blood sport, held in a ring called a cockpit. The history of raising fowl for fighting goes back 6,000 years. The first documented use of the ''word'' gamecock, denoting use of the cock as to a "game", a sport, pastime or ente ...

ring. He served two years in prison.

References

1938 births Living people Republican Party members of the South Carolina House of Representatives Businesspeople from South Carolina People from Wagener, South Carolina South Carolina politicians convicted of crimes {{SouthCarolina-politician-stub