A tad late, but an accurate account, nonetheless.

This arrived in my e-mail late this afternoon. The Story of the Cumberland Three On June 20, 2007, the Cumberland Three, Jim Stein, Gordon Jackson and Chris Viola, went to Cumberland to take a look at the construction of a “clinic” that was rumored to be using inmate labor. Although not known until later, a “sublease” had been signed by Ben Jenkins as Moderator of The Church of the Verity, Inc. to the Shepard Center, Inc. and this sublease had an effective date of January 1, 2006. The sublease also reserved a life estate in the main residence for Ben Jenkins, MD. All rights to use this property are due to expire in Oct, 2010 under the provisions of the agreement with the Department of the Interior. When the 3 docked, they saw the SO unmarked boat tied up at the dock. While walking to the site, Stein encountered Deputy James "Pete" Mercer and talked briefly with him. Jackson and Viola were taking different routes and never actually made it to the site. Stein then continued up the road and passed a sign that said “Private Residence Beyond” and below that “No Entry”. This was the residence that Ben Jenkins, MD had a life estate in. This sign was obviously there to let tourists know that the residence down the road was not park service property and that the residence should not be entered. Contrary to the recent letter to the editor by a SO employee, there was not any “No Trespassing” sign. When Stein arrived at the site, he saw a black male working wearing a blue uniform that had “TRUSTEE” on the back of the uniform and 2 other workers in civilian clothes. Stein talked with the workers, took some pictures and then left. At no time did Stein see Jenkins and Jenkins later testified that he was asleep, did not see anyone and his information had come from Deputy Mercer. When Stein was leaving the Meeting Street boat ramp, he was stopped by Deputy Renfroe who had been dispatched to the boat ramp to look for Stein and 2 other subjects who had “trespassed” on Cumberland Island. As Stein was leaving with his boat, Deputy Renfroe stopped him and asked him who was in the boat with him. Stein declined to tell him who else was in the boat and drove off. Deputy Renfroe then took down the tag numbers of the next 2 vehicles to leave and “ran” the tags. These cars were driven by Jackson and Viola. The afternoon of June 20th, Deputy Hernandez went to Stein’s office to talk to him about being on Cumberland Island. It was learned at the pre-warrant hearing that Deputy Hernandez was wearing a “wire”, something that he did not advise Stein of. Stein told Deputy Hernandez in no uncertain terms that he had indeed been on Cumberland Island and had seen the inmates working on private property. Later a female Deputy came to Stein’s office looking for Viola. A Deputy visited Gordon Jackson the afternoon of the 20th and he declined comment. Deputy Hernandez and a female Deputy went to Viola’s apartment in Glynn County the afternoon of the 20th and he declined comment. On June 22, 2007, Jenkins appeared in the Magistrate Court escorted by Deputy Byerly, with Applications for Issuance of Criminal Warrant, that were completed including a typed statement which contained all information of the SO “investigation”, and only lacked being sworn to and signed by the person seeking the warrants. Under oath, Jenkins signed the warrant applications even though he had no interest in the property that the “clinic” was being constructed on and had no personal knowledge of the facts that he swore to. On June 24, 2007, Jackson’s story on inmate labor on Cumberland Island was published in the Georgia Times Union. It may still be available at http.//www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/0622407/geo 179682035.shtml . On June 28, 2007, a hearing was held on Jenkins applications. Prior to the hearing, Jenkins arrived, again escorted by Deputy Byerly, and met “his” lawyers from Jesup for the lst time. At the hearing, Jenkins testified that he had been asleep on the 20th at the time he was told Stein was there, that he paid the trustees by giving checks to Deputy Mercer and other “supervisors” and the money was then give to the trustees and during his testimony asked if he could get up and go home. I think Jenkins is around 83 years old . Deputy Mercer testified that he never received any checks, had told Jenkins about Stein being there and had brought Jenkins to the St. Marys boat ramp at Deputy Byerly’s instruction. I don’t think that the deputy that picked up Jenkins and brought him to the Courthouse was identified. Stein’s attorney, Clyde Urquhart, made a Motion to Dismiss which was granted by Judge Fry. There was an article on the hearing in Tribune-Georgian the next day, “Judge finds no evidence for trespassing charge” on the hearing and may still be available on-line. Thus ends the story of the Cumberland Three. Obviously, all the effort of the SO and deputies, at taxpayer expense, were done by Smith to try and keep the story from ever being published. As you know, many other stories on inmate labor and other misfeasance and malfeasance have been published over the 12 months since June, 2007. The way to end this type of thing in our community is to vote in a new Sheriff on Tuesday. Vote for Tommy Gregory for Sheriff of Camden County.