Former S.C. Fire Chief, County Councilman Charged in Alleged Fraud and Misconduct Case
Stewart Tyson Melton, John Harris Agee, and Zachary Daniel Gibson face charges related to alleged Hurricane Helene reimbursement fraud and misuse of surplus vehicles; the case remains undecided.
2 reports on this incident · first at Aug 22, 2026, 3:16 p.m. ET
South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson announced charges on August 18, 2026, against Stewart Tyson Melton, John Harris Agee, and Zachary Daniel Gibson, according to FITSNews.
The government alleges that Melton obtained money improperly from the federal government, the state of South Carolina, and Chester County by misrepresenting the Richburg Fire Department's response efforts following Hurricane Helene to receive reimbursement. He also allegedly obtained two Chevrolet Caprice police pursuit vehicles from the state Surplus Property Office by falsely representing they were for the fire department, instead selling them to Agee for personal use. Gibson faces one count of misconduct in office related to the same alleged conduct, and Agee faces two conspiracy charges.
The case was investigated by the S.C. State Law Enforcement Division (SLED). These charges are only allegations at this stage, and the case has not been decided in court. Melton, Agee, and Gibson are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.
Earlier reports
Aug 22, 2026, 3:16 p.m. ETFirst report
Former South Carolina Fire Chief, County Councilman Charged in Alleged Fraud and Misconduct Case
Three South Carolina men have been charged in connection with alleged fraud and misconduct following Hurricane Helene, according to an announcement on August 18, 2026, reported by FITSNews. The charges are only allegations at this stage, and the case has not been decided in court.
Stewart Tyson Melton, John Harris Agee, and Zachary Daniel Gibson face charges announced by South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson. The government alleges that Melton obtained money improperly from the federal government, the state of South Carolina, and Chester County by misrepresenting the Richburg Fire Department's response efforts following Hurricane Helene to receive reimbursement. He is also accused of obtaining two Chevrolet Caprice police pursuit vehicles from the state Surplus Property Office by falsely representing they were for the fire department, instead selling them to Agee for personal use. Gibson faces one count of misconduct in office related to the same alleged conduct, and Agee faces two conspiracy charges.
The charges stem from an investigation by the S.C. State Law Enforcement Division (SLED). Melton, Agee, and Gibson are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law. As this matter is only at the charging stage, it remains undecided.
Was this report accurate and useful?
Sources
Revision history
- Version 122 Aug 2026, 19:22current
First published.
- Version 122 Aug 2026, 19:16current
First published.
How we work
This site models an investigative reporter rather than a wire desk. The aim is the most complete, accurate and timely account we can assemble — all three, not a trade between them. Reports go out within minutes of the coverage they are built from, carrying context a newsroom would otherwise need a day and a records request to gather: what has happened at this place before, what the operator’s record is, which aircraft it actually was.
Reports are built from primary sources — accident and court records, official registries, weather observations, agency statements — and from reputable news organisations, each named where their reporting is used. Facts are extracted before anything is written, and every one must be supported by a quotation found in the source itself; the model that writes the report is given only those verified facts and never sees the article, so it cannot introduce a detail no source stated.
Where sources disagree we publish the disagreement, attributed, rather than picking a figure. Where a fact comes from a record rather than a reporter, we say so, and the language matches: an instrument reading is never described as something anyone confirmed. Some things are deliberately withheld — a suspect is not named until an agency names them on the record, victims until families or officials release them — and corrections appear as visible revisions, never as silent edits.
None of that makes a report true. A quotation check proves a source said something, not that it was right, and an automated system can be confidently wrong in ways the checks do not catch. If something here is wrong, the feedback above is how it gets found. The full methodology, including what we refuse to publish.