John Hardee will not serve federal prison, a judge ruled Wednesday on the former SC Department of Transportation commissioner.

Hardee, 72, for years represented Lexington County with millions of state highway money.

He was sentenced to a 45-day home confinement sentence, a $1,000 fine and 40 hours of community service.

He faced at least 20 years in prison for the felony conviction.

Hardee's felony crime was attempting to destroy evidence in a federal investigation.

Critics called this slap on the wrist "preferential treatment" for the son-in-law of one of the state's most powerful politicians, Sen. Hugh Leatherman, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee.

Former Transportation Commissioner John Hardee lied and tried to destroy evidence against him.

That’s what the FBI contended.

Accused is the man who represented Lexington County on the commission and whose name was given to the expressway near Columbia Metro Airport.

Federal investigators had tried unsuccessfully to prove the son-in-law of one of the state’s most powerful politicians, Sen. Hugh Leatherman, took bribes, too, The State newspaper reported.

Leatherman’s family owns a concrete company. 

Hardee was charged with trying to destroy evidence in the FBI probe. 

According to the filing, Hardee agreed to plead guilty to a criminal felony charge that he tried to destroy evidence and could face 16 months in prison.

The filing does not reveal how much money Hardee received or what it was for. 

The filing reveals that “Cooperating Witness 1,” or “CW1,” told the FBI he had given “bribes and kickbacks to public officials for infrastructure contracts.”

The filing said:
• CW1 recorded calls, warning Hardee the FBI was looking into the payments.
• In phone calls and a meeting, Hardee told CW1 to claim it was a loan or for “previous work Hardee performed for CW1’s business.” 
• Hardee told CW1 to destroy emails “before the FBI could find them.”  

Hardee’s attorney Jim Griffin said he and his co-counsel, state Sen. Dick Harpootlian, who represents Irmo in the state Senate, will “more fully elaborate on the facts and circumstances of the case” at a future hearing.

The filing said prosecuting Hardee is important “if only to deter other individuals from attempting to interfere in federal investigations.”

Hardee served almost 10 years on the commission before the SC Supreme Court forced him off. 

Near the end of the 90-minute hearing Wednesday, Hardee apologized to God, his family, his church, the government and his pastor, according to reports

Hardee, as a convicted felon, will be unable to vote or own a gun, and is on probation for 18 months.

Hardee had asked a business associate to destroy emails because the associate told him that the FBI was investigating him (Hardee) and the emails between the two contained evidence that Hardee had committed a crime. According to evidence in the case, the associate was a SC contractor who was making regular payments to Harde

Defense lawyers Dick Harpootlian and Jim Griffin tried unsuccessfully for months to convince the government not to bring charges at all.

The FBI taped his conversations as evidence.

Prosecutor Pearson told the judge that although the FBI had worked hard on the case, its agents never found any evidence that Hardee had taken bribes or steered contracts to his client.

Hardee was paid the $27,000 between February 2014 and February 2015, while he was on the DOT board, according to evidence in the case. The consultant also paid Hardee while Hardee wasn’t on the commission.

In 2015 Wooten rejected a no-prison deal that federal prosecutors arranged with defense lawyers for ex-Lexington County Sheriff Jimmy Metts on a reduced charge of helping to harbor undocumented immigrants from Mexico. Wooten then sentenced Metts to a year in prison, telling Metts at a hearing that he had “violated the public’s trust.”

Wooten said Hardee had committed a serious crime, but his age and health inclined him to mercy in a light sentence and there was no “underlying criminal conduct” on Hardee’s part.