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COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA —Rodney Ellis, 71, of Sumter, was sentenced to nearly three years in federal prison after pleading guilty to his role in defrauding a local non-profit organization.

Evidence presented to the Court showed that while serving as the Financial Officer for Sumter Behavioral Health Services (SBHS), a 501c3 non-profit, Ellis defrauded the non-profit out of more than $800,000 over eight years. His scheme was to divert funds from SBHS banking accounts to his own personal banking accounts.

United States District Judge Terry L. Wooten sentenced Ellis to 33 months in federal prison, to be followed by a three-year term of court-ordered supervision. Ellis was also ordered to pay restitution to SBHS in the amount of $812,259.07. There is no parole in the federal system.

“By stealing from an organization that serves those suffering from substance abuse, Ellis took from those he should have been protecting,” said U.S. Attorney Adair F. Boroughs. “This case shows that financial crimes are not victimless, and often do the most harm to those who need help the most. This office will continue to aggressively prosecute fraud, and we appreciate the efforts of all state and federal agencies involved in this case.”

“Ellis used his position of power to take advantage of a system designed to help those with substance abuse challenges,” said Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Columbia Special Agent in Charge, Susan Ferensic. “Our work is not finished. The FBI and our law enforcement partners will continue to dismantle the schemes that hurt health organizations and we will hold the perpetrators accountable.”

“I am grateful to the United States Attorney’s Office for their efforts in bringing Rodney Ellis to justice,” said Sumter County Sheriff Anthony Dennis “Ellis betrayed the trust of not only members of the Sumter Behavioral Health office, but the citizens of Sumter County. We hope the message is clear that anyone who betrays the trust of their employer by taking funds will be held responsible and all efforts will be utilized to bring them to justice.”

This case was investigated by the FBI and the Sumter County Sherriff’s Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Amy Bower prosecuted the case.

Contact

Derek Shoemake, Public Information Officer, U.S. Attorney’s Office, derek.shoemake@usdoj.gov, (843) 813-0982

At just eight years old, Lane Russell is now a published author. With help from his grandma, he wrote about his time visiting the USS Yorktown.

SUMTER, S.C. — Writing a book is no easy feat, but for one third-grader in Sumter, it was a way to share his passion for the military with his family and friends.

At just 8 years old, Lane Russell can call himself a published author.

It all started with a trip to the USS Yorktown near Charleston.

"They were like one of my favorite ships so I was like, 'Wow, it was big!" Russell exclaimed. "I just couldn't say a word."

His grandparents surprised him with the trip and took a lot of pictures while they were there.

"My grandma said, 'Hey, you want to make a book?' and I said, 'Yes, please," he explained.

His grandmother Marialaina Davis says she gave him a tape recorder and then transcribed what he said. She said at first, the idea was to make a journal.

"I think just looking at the pictures, the pictures were just so beautiful," Davis shared. "And I said, 'You got to put this in a book.' And then when he got the recorder and went picture by picture, noting everything that he did and everything he remembered, I had to have a book."

"I was amazed!" Russell remembers. "The first time I saw it, it wasn’t really the book. It was just like little papers. So I read it whole and I was like ‘This is actually pretty good."

Now that book is sold on Amazon and is in his school’s library. He’s even getting ready for book signings to show it off.

"I’ve sold my book like a lot of times. People have been like buying it every day," Russell told me. "It feels amazing. I'm just glad that people like it."

And Russell’s grandma, who is calls GaGa, is beaming with pride.

"Yeah, you don't see that much patriotism in a little guy, especially his age, eight years old," she smiled.

Russell says that while he hasn’t seen any money in royalties yet, he plans to donate it all to charity.

A boy from Sumter suffered a stroke during a typical day at school. Now, his family wants others to learn from this situation.

COLUMBIA, S.C. — On Friday afternoon, a 13-year-old Furman Middle School student sat in his hospital bed asking for chicken nuggets and Gatorade - just 11 days after a stroke.

On Feb. 6, Daniel went to school like any normal day. He said he wasn't feeling well, and went to the front office of Furman Middle School to call his mom. At this point, his speech was slurred and he couldn't talk on the phone.

The staff in the front office asked his mother, Jennifer Lynch, to come to pick him up. Jennifer said that when she arrived she had to help her son to the car because he was weak and limp on his right side.

She took him home and let him sleep before sending him to Prisma Health Tuomey Hospital in Sumter. Since then, Lynch says the past week has been unnerving for her family.

"We didn't expect a 13-year-old to ever go through this," she said.

Doctors said he suffered a five-centimeter aneurysm which caused him to have what is called a hemorrhagic stroke, something most adults do not survive.

Daniel's grandparents Rhonda and Charles Ahtonen said they want this situation to be a learning experience for others.

"We hope that some other parent or grandparent won't have to go through what we went through," Charles said. "That's all we're trying to do is help that next kid that comes into the office and is having difficulty so they know exactly what they need to do."

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We reached out to the Sumter School District to see if employees are trained to deal with these situations.

They sent back this statement that said:

"MERT teams are available at our schools to assist with medical emergencies that are common in children. Since this was so unique, additional training will take place next week to help ensure school staff is able to identify signs and symptoms of a stroke."

Daniel is slowly improving, cracking jokes and asking for donuts - even after a lengthy surgery to put a filter on his artery to prevent the blood clot from moving any further.

His right arm is not moving but he can move his right leg now, and his family is hoping that, with more physical therapy, he'll have regular use of these limbs again.

Once he is ready, Daniel's family said he will be transferred to a rehab center in Charlotte.

SIGNS OF A STROKE

It's important to recognize the signs of a stroke. Fortunately, there is a common mnemonic device to help remember some of the most common symptoms: FAST

F: Facial Drooping

A: Arm Weakness

S: Speech Difficulty

T: Time to call 911

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS) - Sumter County School District students have lost class time because the district’s bus system failed to get them to school on time.

In February, district staff reported the bus system is costing students class time at all levels of learning and arriving late to pick them up. The district used snapshot data of a single day earlier in the month.

The data shows 59 percent of the school buses to the district’s middle schools that day were late. Almost one-third of the high school buses were late, while 13 percent of the elementary school buses failed to make it on time.

Some buses arrived in excess of one hour late to school.

District leaders largely attribute this to a bus driver shortage.

The district reported it is 40 drivers short as of Wednesday. It currently has 62 drivers and 19 substitutes.

The largely-new board reacted with some surprise and dismay at the news. Chair Ralph Canty Sr. said the board will be creating a committee to address the issue in response.

RELATED STORY: Sumter Co. School Board undergoes significant turnover after election

“We understand [parent’s] anxiety, we are working diligently to fix the problem,” he said.

It’s unclear how long or how severe the late arrivals have been, but parent Kellie Haley said the issue has been persisting for her two high school students for months.

She said it’s impacted her daughter’s grades in her first-period class.

“It sucks because it’s not her fault,” she said.

Superintendent Dr. William Wright Jr. said additional funding for the district would help it better compete with other districts on recruitment and retention of bus drivers.

“Not only are not competitive when you talk about industries and different things in the area. We’re not even competitive with our neighboring school districts in some cases, which includes bus driving,” he said.

Despite this, he said the number of bus drivers has risen since the start of the school year.

The district is actively hiring bus drivers.

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The knife was found and confiscated before he had the chance to directly threaten any students or teachers, officials said.

SUMTER, S.C. — Authorities are clarifying earlier details and sharing new ones regarding a Sumter County 7-year-old who is accused of bringing a knife to school with the intent of stabbing other students and teachers.

The Sumter County Sheriff's Office said that they now believe the Cherryvale Elementary School student never directly threatened any student or teacher with the 7-inch knife he brought with him. Instead, authorities say a teacher noticed the knife as he opened his backpack. The sheriff's office added that the teacher then contacted the school resource officer who then confiscated the knife.

It was during an interview with the school resource officer and a principal that the student announced that he intended to stab the teacher and students - particularly a child who had been "picking" on him.

The sheriff's office also detailed the future legal process for the child since he is too young to be charged criminally. The office said a child under the age of 11, also can't be detained by law enforcement without an order from a family court.

"The Sheriff's Office does not impose or enforce discipline of children and questions about any disciplinary actions should be addressed to the Sumter School District," the sheriff's office said in its statement.

The sheriff's office is investigating, however, if there was any negligence in the child getting the knife in the first place. In this case, the child's parents could face charges.

The incident will also be referred to the S.C. Department of Social Services after the sheriff's office investigation ends.

“We will do everything within our power to protect our children from harm," Sheriff Anthony Dennis said in a statement. "At the same time, we support school and DSS officials as they work to balance discipline and compassion with all children."

So far in the investigation, the sheriff's office has said it hasn't received any information about "warning signs" regarding the child that were noticed by faculty or staff that would have prompted action.