YORK, S.C. (AP) - A former Lancaster County sheriff has been sentenced to 18 months of probation for using a slingshot to damage a neighbor’s home and car in Rock Hill.
Media outlets reported John Cauthen entered an Alford plea Thursday to a charge of malicious injury to property. It’s a felony, and Cauthen will have to give up his guns.
In an Alford plea, a defendant admits there is enough evidence to convict, but doesn’t admit guilt.
Cauthen told the judge he can’t really explain why he used the slingshot to shoot marbles, pellets and paint balls at his Rock Hill neighbors, breaking a glass door and damaging siding last June.
Cauthen’s lawyer says the 59-year-old former sheriff is suffering from health problems after a motorcycle crash. He left office in 2009.
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