Singleton and Related Genealogy Pages
A history of many families.
1960 - 2013 (53 years)| Name | Michael Nelson “Mike” WEAVER [2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7] | |
| Birth | 1960 | Sumter, Sumter County, South Carolina  [5] |
| Gender | Male | |
| HIST | of Sumter, South Carolina Man pleads guilty in '08 severed hand fraud case By JOHN MONK jmonk@thestate.com COLUMBIA - Gerald "Trey" Hardin III pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court to being part of a scheme to get some $671,000 in insurance money by chopping off a mentally handicapped man's hand with a chainsaw. "I was on drugs real bad at the time ... crack cocaine," Hardin, 34, of Cayce, a short, stocky man with light brown hair, told U.S. Judge Cameron Currie in Columbia just before pleading guilty to a felony charge of conspiracy to commit federal mail fraud. The dismemberment of Michael "Porkchop" Weaver, 52, of Sumter County, took place in 2008 when Hardin and another Sumter man, David Player, tied Weaver's left arm to a tree with rags, stretched it out, then lopped it off below the elbow with a pole chainsaw, assistant U.S. Attorney Dean Eichelberger told the court. Although Hardin and Player cut off Weaver's hand in May 2008, the break in the case that resulted in Hardin's plea didn't come for several years, when Player's wife, then getting a divorce, tipped federal authorities to information that caused the FBI to investigate, Eichelberger said in court. Player's wife found a briefcase full of credit cards in Weaver's name and turned them over to her attorney. Her attorney then turned the cards over to FBI agent Ron Grosse, Eichelberger said. "Mr. Player is the prime mover in this case," Eichelberger said. Player, 58, who is scheduled to go to trial in October, for many years was Weaver's legal representative, according to an indictment in the case. The indictment says Player took out insurance policies on Weaver that would pay off in the event of Weaver's death or dismemberment. As Weaver's representative, Player had the legal status to collect the money and spend it, according to court filings. Weaver is a "mentally disabled adult male, a lifelong resident of Sumter County, illiterate, alcoholic," Eichelberger said. Player, who has known both Weaver and Hardin for decades, has an emotional hold over them, Eichelberger said. "Michael Weaver worships the ground David Player walks on," he said. When Hardin was a youth, Player dated his mother, Eichelberger said. Hardin is expected to testify against Player in his trial. Hardin will be sentenced in November. He could receive a maximum of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine and be required to pay restitution. Player used some of the money to buy a mo-ped, a camper and a house, Eichelberger said in court. Federal authorities said they do not know where the entire $671,000 is. After depositing the insurance proceeds from The Hartford insurance company, Player withdrew large amounts of cash - some $292,000 - according to court filings and Eichelberger's court statements. After cutting off the hand, Hardin and Player took Weaver to the emergency room at Sumter's Tuomey Medical Center. Nurses asked Hardin to retrieve the hand to see if it could be reattached. Hardin went back to Player's property and got the hand, which was still lying on the ground. Player and Hardin told medical workers they had been trimming a tree when Hardin lost control of the gas-powered Poulan Pro chainsaw and accidentally cut off Weaver's hand, Eichelberger said. Weaver was transported to Charlotte, where doctors reattached the hand. But the operation didn't take, and the hand had to be amputated again a week later, Eichelberger said. Eichelberger said a key piece of evidence in the case was the nature of Weaver's wound. An orthopedist told federal investigators Weaver's hand was "completely severed at a right angle to the forearm ... a surprisingly clean cut and one that had minimal shredding of the flesh." Normal chainsaw injuries are "virtually always jagged, at compound angles and demonstrate signs of skipping over the bone," Eichelberger told Currie. After court, Eichelberger said Weaver knew about the scheme and had agreed to go along with it. In view of Weaver's low mental capacities, it would not have been right to charge him with a crime, Eichelberger said. There is no evidence that Weaver got much, if any, money from the insurance proceeds, Eichelberger said. Hardin testified in court he didn't know that Player stood to get some $671,000 in insurance money from the scheme. Hardin said he himself only expected to get $5,000, but it wasn't clear if he managed to get that much. "I didn't want to do it, really," Hardin told Currie. But Player kept insisting, Hardin said. Player's attorney, Mike Duncan of Columbia, said, "Mr. Player cared for Mr. Weaver over many years without compensation and denies involvement in any wrong-doing." Posted in Ap state news, News on Wednesday, August 22, 2012 Severed hand scam leader pleads guilty By JOHN MONK The State The Sumter ringleader of a scheme to use a chainsaw to lop off the hand of a mentally disabled man to get $671,000 in insurance proceeds may still have nearly half of it stashed away to use after he gets out of prison. That was one clear implication of conflicting statements made in federal court Thursday before U.S. District Judge Cameron McGowan Currie, who questioned ringleader David Player and FBI agent Ron Grosse - the case lead investigator - in detail about what happened to all the money. Player, 58, who pleaded guilty before Currie, admitted hatching the plot to lop off the left hand of Michael "Porky" Weaver, 52, between the wrist and elbow. Weaver, described as functionally illiterate and mentally incapacitated, now wears a hook. After the 2008 chainsaw amputation, Player was able to get the insurance payoff because the mentally disabled Weaver regarded him "as a father figure," according to prosecutors. Player already had power of attorney for Weaver and was handling Weaver's monthly Social Security checks. "We want to know what happened to the money," Currie told Player as she grilled him on the cash. "If you lie to me today - your guidelines go up and this will have a significant impact on your sentencing," Currie, speaking in icy tones, told Player. Under a plea agreement, Player pleaded guilty Thursday to the scheme in exchange for prosecutors dropping unrelated gun charges against him. Specifically, he pleaded to one count of felony mail fraud, meaning he received unlawful insurance payments via the U.S. mail. Player admitted to Currie that he received some $671,000 in insurance proceeds after Weaver's hand was cut off by a chainsaw-wielding friend on Player's property after they all drank alcohol. They told medical personnel and the insurance company, The Hartford, they were clearing trees with a pole saw - a pole with a mini-chainsaw - when the incident happened. Of the $671,000, some $80,000 went to an attorney who helped get the money from the insurance company. That left about $590,000. Another $80,000 went to pay for Player's divorce. Another $14,000 to $26,000 went to build an auto repair shop. Earlier this year, as of February, there was some $300,000 in insurance proceeds left in a Sumter bank. The money has since been withdrawn. That much, prosecutors and Player agreed on. Player told Currie that he withdrew the money at Weaver's direction and gave the $300,000 in cash to him. Currie then asked Grosse his version of events. The FBI agent told the judge that Weaver was so mentally incompetent he wouldn't know "what to do with $5, let alone $500,000." Grosse said a lot of the insurance proceeds were "eaten up over two-three years by Mr. Player. He had no other income to speak of. He lived on the insurance money." Grosse made it clear that he didn't believe that Weaver wound up with the $300,000 Player withdrew from the bank. "Mr. Weaver benefitted, if anything, very little. He still lives in the same camper he always did. It's a hovel. I don't know how he lives there. "Player gave him money for beer and cigarettes and maybe a little bit of food - the rest of it was used by Mr. Player." After hearing Grosse, Currie said, "Mr. Player, you are on the edge of a dangerous precipice." Currie said she will sentence Player on Dec. 14, after federal officials do their routine pre-sentence investigation. To be eligible for the reduced sentence most defendants get if they plead guilty, Player must accept responsibility for his crime, which means he must tell the truth about where all the insurance money is. Prosecutors described Weaver as a willing participant in the scheme, but said his mental capacity was so diminished it wouldn't have been appropriate to charge him. Another participant, Gerald "Trey" Hardin III, 34, pleaded guilty last month. A self-described crack cocaine addict, Hardin had known Player since Hardin was young. Hardin would have testified against Player if Player had not pleaded guilty. Hardin said he got some $5,000 and a car for his role in the scheme. The break in the case that resulted in Hardin's plea didn't come until 2009. Player's wife, who had filed for divorce, passed along information she had found in a briefcase to her lawyer, who tipped the FBI. Weaver's attorney, Edye Moran, said, "Michael Weaver is a vulnerable victim in this case, and he has been a vulnerable victim throughout." Posted in Ap state news on Friday, September 14, 2012 58-year-old gets 14 years in case of severed hand A Sumter man and another man, formerly of Sumter, were sentenced in federal court Friday on fraud charges after they intentionally cut off another man's hand in order to reap his insurance awards. Gerald Inman Player, 58, of Sumter, was sentenced to 14 years in prison and ordered to pay more than $670,000 in restitution to the Hartford Insurance Co., according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. FROM STAFF REPORTS A Sumter man and another man, formerly of Sumter, were sentenced in federal court Friday on fraud charges after they intentionally cut off another man's hand in order to reap his insurance awards. Gerald Inman Player, 58, of Sumter, was sentenced to 14 years in prison and ordered to pay more than $670,000 in restitution to the Hartford Insurance Co., according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. Co-defendant Gerald Hardin, 34, formerly of Sumter but now living in Cayce, was sentenced to 41 months in prison for his role. U.S. District Judge Cameron McGowan Currie presided in the case. Evidence showed Player conspired with Hardin to sever the hand of a third person on May 17, 2008, in order to make false insurance claims. Authorities said the third man, who is mentally impaired and illiterate, agreed to the scheme in order to receive a portion of the insurance award. Player was designated to oversee the man's affairs and had control over a number of his insurance policies. The three claimed the severed hand was the result of a tree-cutting accident. However, according to evidence presented in court hearings, Player and Hardin tied the man's hand to a branch, and Hardin cut off his hand with a pole saw. They then took the man to the hospital for treatment. Efforts to re-attach the hand were ultimately unsuccessful. The Hartford Insurance Co. paid $671,125 from a variety of policies after a number of insurance claims were filed by Player. Hardin participated in order to receive a pay-off of $5,000. The case was investigated by agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant United States Attorneys Dean Eichelberger, Winston Holliday and Jim Hunter May of the Columbia office handled the case. Posted in Local news, News on Saturday, December 15, 2012 [2, 5, 6, 8] | |
| _UID | 11D193CAB06A48FDA55248BAE1FBFB249265 | |
| Death | 12 Jun 2013 | at his home, (Sumter County, South Carolina) |
| Burial | 19 Jun 2013 | Zoar United Methodist Church Cemetery, 1515 Plowden Mill Road, Sumter, South Carolina [7] |
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| Person ID | I170114 | Singleton and Related Families |
| Last Modified | 15 Sep 2017 | |
| Father | Franklin D. “Frank” WEAVER, b. 1936, Clarendon County, South Carolina d. 2 Jan 2006, Tuomey Regional Medical Center, Sumter, Sumter County, South Carolina (Age 70 years) | |
| Mother | Dorothy MIXON, b. 1935, Sumter, Sumter County, South Carolina d. 4 Sep 2017, at her home, (Sumter, Sumter County, South Carolina) (Age 82 years) | |
| _UID | A0F5FD32835540D9A13A74B69CD7BD00EAFA | |
| _UID | A0F5FD32835540D9A13A74B69CD7BD00EAFA | |
| Family ID | F12552 | Group Sheet | Family Chart |
| Family 1 | Victoria Lynda JACKSON | |
| Marriage | 28 Nov 1980 | Sumter County, South Carolina [4] |
| _UID | B0535ACAAC604CB69B7EEF80CA3E66B0DB5B | |
| _UID | B0535ACAAC604CB69B7EEF80CA3E66B0DB5B | |
| Family ID | F188915 | Group Sheet | Family Chart |
| Last Modified | 27 Aug 2012 | |
| Family 2 | Living | |
| Family ID | F133959 | Group Sheet | Family Chart |
| Last Modified | 27 Aug 2012 | |
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