Manning's former police chief, Blair Shaffer, is scheduled to appear in court July 11 in Charleston for a change of plea hearing. Shaffer initially pled not guilty to several charges by Federal Bureau of Investigations in January of this year after an investigation was conducted concerning money that was allegedly in Shaffer's possession while he was police chief of Manning PD.
Shaffer first came under scrutiny when his employment was terminated July 2018 by the City of Manning. Manning Mayor Julia Nelson announced Shaffer’s termination as Manning’s police chief, citing the “safety of our residents, guests and community." Several issues were brought up against Shaffer, who filed a grievance to attempt to retain his position as police chief. Following several city council meetings and a meeting of the city’s grievance committee, Manning City Council again voted and a decision was made to uphold Shaffer’s termination at a special called meeting on Aug. 7. The termination of the former police chief was reportedly independent of the charges that were filed against him by the FBI.
FBI agents conducted an investigation of Shaffer that began in 2016. After gathering enough evidence to obtain a warrant, Shaffer was arrested at his home January 7 and transported to Charleston to be charged. The list of charges included theft of federal funds, money laundering, structuring and false statement, according to a federal indictment.
After learning of the charges against him, Shaffer entered a plea of Not Guilty and asked for a public defender to represent him. The judge set his bond at $25,000. After Shaffer showed documents to the court stating he did not have enough money to cover the amount, the judge allowed Shaffer to put up the home that he owned with his wife as security for the bond.
If convicted of the charges, Shaffer is looking at the possibility of serving time in prison, be under probation for an undetermined amount of time, and/or pay fines at the discretion of the court system.
