Florence Couple Indicted for Fraud Scheme Related to Murder

COLUMBIA, SC—United States Attorney W. Walter Wilkins announced today that TIMOTHY JAMES POOLE, age 35, and JODIE ANN POOLE, age 33, both of Florence, South Carolina, are in federal custody after a federal grand jury issued an indictment against them yesterday. The Pooles will make an initial appearance in federal court in Florence either Friday or Monday.

The indictment charges the Pooles with one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, seventeen counts of mail fraud, and two counts of wire fraud. Each count in the indictment carries a maximum penalty of 20 years imprisonment. Under federal law sentences for separate counts can be ordered to run consecutively.

The indictment charges that as part of the conspiracy Timothy Poole shot and killed his adoptive mother, Linda Poole Hilton, and step-father, William Henry Hilton, Jr., at their Lakewood Plantation in Williamsburg County, and then caused mailings in order to fraudulently benefit from her trust and estate. The indictment further alleges that Timothy Poole and Jodie Poole concealed Timothy Poole’s involvement in the murder to preserve his status as an heir and to insure his eligibility to receive income from various trusts and estates immediately, rather than at the end of his mother’s natural life. Timothy Poole served as a deputy with the Florence County Sheriff’s Office from 1997 to 2002.

The case was investigated by the Williamsburg County Sheriff’s Office, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, the Florence County Sheriff’s Office, the United States Marshal’s Service, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Rose Mary Parham and Buddy Bethea of the Florence office.

Mr. Wilkins stated that the charges in this Indictment are merely accusations, and that the defendants charged are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.