SOUTH CAROLINA (AP) – A former sheriff from South Carolina is set to enter a guilty plea on Thursday to federal offenses involving misappropriation of funds from a benevolence fund and the illicit acquisition of prescription painkillers intended for destruction in a pill take-back initiative.

Chuck Wright, the former sheriff of Spartanburg County, has reached a plea deal with federal authorities on charges of conspiracy to steal from federally funded programs, wire fraud, and unlawfully obtaining controlled substances. His court appearance is scheduled for Thursday morning at the federal courthouse in Anderson.

Wright is poised to become the 12th sheriff in South Carolina over the past decade and a half to be convicted or plead guilty to crimes committed while in office. The misconduct varied widely, from extorting drug dealers to employing inmates for personal work and coercing an employee into an inappropriate relationship.

In South Carolina, sheriffs lead law enforcement across the state’s 46 counties, wielding significant discretion in budget management, crime prioritization, and personnel decisions. Oversight is minimal, limited primarily to the electoral process every four years.

While the abuses of power are evident, the nature of the crimes committed by these convicted sheriffs is diverse. Some operated in small rural settings, while others were from larger urban departments. Misconduct has included fabricating police reports to benefit a credit repair business, accepting bribes to shield a restaurant owner’s employees from deportation, covering up unlawful arrests, and even physically assaulting a woman and stealing her phone.

In Wright’s case, the former sheriff plundered the fund meant to help deputies who face financial difficulties, including once saying he needed cash to send an officer to Washington to honor a deputy killed in the line of duty. Instead the money went in his own pocket, federal prosecutors said.

Most of Wright’s crimes happened as he dealt with an addiction to painkillers. In addition to the drugs he took from pill take-back program, Wright also got a blank check from the benevolence fund and used it to pay for oxycodone and hydrocodone pills, writing it out his dealer, according to court records.

Wright also faces more than 60 charges of ethics violations for using his county-issued credit card for personal expenses. In all, there was more than $50,000 in disputed spending, including more than $1,300 he allegedly spent at Apple’s app store and almost $1,600 he paid for Sirius/XM radio, according to court records.

Wright agreed to plead guilty in federal court to conspiracy to commit theft concerning programs receiving federal funds, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and obtaining controlled substances through misrepresentation. He is scheduled to appear Thursday morning at the courthouse in Anderson.

The maximum penalty for all three counts combined is nearly 30 years, although Wright will likely receive a much lighter sentence. He also will have to pay at least $440,000 in restitution. A sentencing date has not been set.