Attorney claims sheriff's office didn't return stone as required by court order
By Dwight Otwell Editor

An attorney for Robert Garland claims that Cherokee County Sheriff Keith Lovin's officers unlawfully allowed Garland's stone to be removed at an execution sale in violation of a court order.

"Your office violated statutory provisions in conducting the sale. You were charged with the duty of conducting the execution sale and collecting the money paid at the execution sale in cash," attorney Zeyland McKinney Jr., wrote to Lovin in an August 30, 2007 letter.

McKinney wrote the sheriff that he represents Vengeance Creek Stone, Inc., owned by Garland. McKinney wrote that on February 3, 2005 he wrote the sheriff and provided him with a copy of the order entered by Judge Zoro Guice in connection with the return of Garland's property that was sold at execution and "unlawfully" delivered to the high bidder at the sale.

"I told you in February of 2005 that I expected you to return my client's property to him or account for it as you are required to do by law, McKinney wrote. "Your officer allowed my client's property to be removed from the premises but collected no money at the sale. In an effort to resolve this matter, I talked with the county attorney, Mr. Scott Lindsay. Lindsay informed me that if my client feels that the sale was not conducted properly or my client's property is missing that I should sue you in your official capacity, not Cherokee County.

Cherokee County Sheriff Keith Lovin said Tuesday that in his opinion, the sale was conducted properly. As soon as the sheriff's department received the order to stop the sale, theuy stopped. No items were moved from county property that Garland was renting, Lovin said.

"Between 2002 and now, we received no report of any property that has been lost or stolen until after he (Garland) initiated legal action against the county," Lovin said. "We conducted our business with Garland according to statute. We complied with the original order that directed us to sell this property and we complied with the cease and desiste order from Judge Guice. That's why we didn't collect any money (for the stone)."

"My client simply wants to be treated fairly under the law. You have been ordered to return all of my client's property and you have not done so. Please provide me with the name, address and phone number of the insurance company responsible for your official bond and I will make claim against y our official bond so that my client can be compensated for the property that he has lost as a result of the actions of your office."

In October 2004 Judge Guice entered an order setting aside the execution sale. The sheriff's office held the sale in June 2004 and sold property belonging to Garland to Lon Thomas. The total purchase price of the items was $12,200. Thomas was the only bidder at the sale. McKinney wrote that Thomas did not tender the purchase price to the sheriff of Cherokee County for the items that he purchased at the sale, even though the Notice of Sale required him to do so. Thomas and his wife, Beverly Thomas, are the principal stockholders in Star Stone Quarries, Inc. and American Stone, Inc. Star Stone Quarries Inc, is involved in litigation against Vengeance Creek Stone in the Superior Court of Pickens County, GA and in the Unites States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.

Thomas purchased the stone inventory of Vengeance Creek Stone Inc., to circumvent the provisions of the federal court consent order. The stone inventory held by Vengeance Creek Stone had a true value at the time of the execution sale of at least 10 times what Thomas purchased it for, Judge Guice wrote.

Guice wrote in his court order that the sale was not performed in accordance with the Notice of Sale since the purchaser failed to tender the purchase price for the items sold at the time of the sale.

Guice ordered that the sale be set aside and declared null and void and that all personal property owned by Vengeance Creek Stone Inc., and seized in the action be immediately returned to Vengeance Creek Stone, Inc., by the sheriff of Cherokee County at the place of business of Vengeance Creek Stone.

An affidavit by Harley Hensley was taken on July 10, 2007. Hensley, who lives in Andrews and works for the U.S. Post Office in Robbinsville, swore that he worked for Vengeance Creek Stone in 2004 as its production manager at the Cherokee County Industrial Park.

He wrote that he was at the execution sale held at the Industrial Park on July 11, 2004 and certain tools belonging to Vengeance Creek Stone were sold to Lon Thomas. David Weston, an agent and employee of Thomas, removed the items. The tools were not returned to Vengeance Creek Stone after the execution sale was set aside nor have they ever been returned to Vengeance Creek Stone to the best of my knowledge, Hensley wrote.

"On the day of the sale I watched David Weston remove about 80 pallets of stone from the property leased by Vengeance Creek Stone Inc. from Cherokee County and place them on adjacent property belonging to Cherokee County but not leased by Vengeance Creek Stone. The property that the stone was taken to was not a secure location.

"After the sale, the stone that was removed from the property leased by Vengeance Creek Stone was pilfered and a large portion of the stone was removed from the property belonging to Cherokee County but not leased by vengeance Creek Stone," Hensley wrote.