Escolar Documentos
Profissional Documentos
Cultura Documentos
I. Introduction
In January 2018, Jon Creighton had a choice to make. He had learned that both the
State Bureau of Investigation and the Federal Bureau of Investigation were investigating
longtime powerful Buncombe County Manager Wanda Greene. But the rumors and
media reports on the investigation did not mention the only transgression he was involved
So Jon’s choice was either to stay quiet and see if the investigators eventually found
his misconduct with Wiseman, or instead help the SBI and FBI by divulging what he and
It was a real choice. It appeared that Greene had participated in several other
completely unrelated criminal schemes, and it was possible that the travel misconduct
would go overlooked.
Jon hired counsel, discussed the pros and cons, and made the decision to come
could. That’s what he did in January 2018, and that’s what he’s done ever since.
Creighton gathered credit card and hotel records, as well as text messages,
chronology of all the trips that Joe Wiseman paid for, and who was on each trip.
Creighton’s counsel then asked for a meeting with the Asst. U.S. Attorney and the
case agents. On Monday, January 29, 2018, counsel met with the federal prosecutor, the
lead SBI agent and the lead FBI agent in Asheville. The federal team was not sure what
to expect.
Here’s what they got: for two and a half hours, Creighton’s counsel talked,
methodically going through a detailed chronology of the trips to Napa Valley, Key West,
Phoenix and other places that Wiseman paid for Creighton, Wanda Greene and Asst.
County Manager Mandy Stone from about 2013 through 2017. Counsel divulged the
arrangement: Wiseman paid for flights, hotel rooms, dinners and other expenses for
Creighton, Greene and Stone, and in exchange Creighton and Greene kept giving
Counsel explained that in September 2013, Greene told Creighton that she wanted
to start traveling, and Jon should get Joe Wiseman to “line things up.” Counsel read from
strings of text messages between and among Wiseman, Stone, Greene and Creighton about
the trips, corroborating they occurred and who was on which trip. These messages
Talk between Greene, Creighton and Wiseman planning a trip to Jackson Hole,
Wyoming.
Message from Stone to Greene and Creighton that the credit card number (of
Wiseman) that Greene had given her to make reservations was not working.
a piece of paper Greene had given Creighton showing her wish list of travel for
2015-17:
Creighton’s counsel explained that in order to make it easier for Creighton and
Greene to check into their hotel rooms when Wiseman had not yet arrived, Greene sent
Creighton to the personnel department to achieve this: a Buncombe County ID that had Joe
Counsel showed a photo that Creighton had taken of the two IDs a few years earlier:
of personal checks that Wiseman had written to Creighton to pay for travel expenses.
Although government counsel and case agents remained coy, it was clear that even
if they had already been looking into the “travelgate,” they certainly had no idea of its full
Still at the January 29, 2018 meeting, counsel for Creighton explained that in the
summer of 2017, Jon’s conscience had gotten to him, and he repaid Wiseman for the travel
gifts he received. (See infra Section IV.B.) Creighton asked Wiseman to total up the
amounts he had spent, and in response, Wiseman created an excel spreadsheet listing all of
these – including expenses of Greene and Stone – which he gave to Creighton on a thumb
drive. Here was the motherlode: Wiseman’s own accounting of all the money he spent on
trips for these county officials. The agents asked Creighton’s counsel to search for the
At the January meeting, counsel also turned over to the agents copies of five
personal checks Creighton wrote to Wiseman’s company in the summer of 2017 to quietly
pay him back for the travel expenses Creighton had received, per the spreadsheet.
their jobs), counsel suggested places where Creighton thought the agents should look for
confirming evidence: Wiseman’s credit card records, Greene’s Marriott Rewards records
Both agents asked many follow-up questions, which Creighton’s counsel wrote
down and promised to discuss with him and respond. They reiterated they wanted
Creighton to look to see if he could find the thumb drive he received from Wiseman. They
asked if Creighton remembered who in the personnel department took the photos for the
fake IDs, and they asked Creighton to try to find the actual switched photo IDs. The
Let’s pause for a moment, specifically the moment of this January 29, 2018 proffer.
At sentencing, the Court should focus on the key timing of Jon Creighton’s assistance.
See U.S.S.G. 5K1.1(a)(5). Creighton was taking a huge risk that he was inculpating
himself in something that the investigators might never find. He knew that once the
proffer began, a criminal case would almost surely be made against him. But Jon had
made the hard decision that he needed to acknowledge and admit his conduct. He hoped
time, expense, and energy in getting to the bottom of the travel misconduct. But most of
all he wanted to come clean to the people of Buncombe County for whom he had worked
for 34 years.
Judges and prosecutors sometimes say to recalcitrant defendants, “You only regret
that you were caught.” That’s not the case here. Jon Creighton regretted what he did and
Back to the cooperation timeline. Over the next few weeks, in February 2018,
Creighton answered each of the agent’s list of questions, and his counsel communicated
the answers to the SBI agent. Creighton spent hours searching through boxes and found
the actual thumb drive he had received from Wiseman. Counsel delivered the thumb drive
to the SBI, and it became crucial electronic evidence against Wiseman. Creighton also
found one of the actual “switched IDs,” and gave it to the SBI agent. Creighton gave the
agents the name of the county personnel department employee who made the IDs, and the
agents confirmed it. Creighton also found a credit card that Wiseman had given him and
turned it over.
Creighton gave to the agents copies of three checks that Wiseman wrote to
Creighton to pay for travel expenses. Two of the checks were from Wiseman’s company,
and one from his personal account. In addition to being clear proof of payments by
Wiseman, these checks likely saved the government the time of trying to find the location
and account numbers, and surely led to subpoenas for those records from the banks.
In May 2018, the government used the information produced by Creighton to apply
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granted, and investigators seized computers during the search on which Wiseman kept
detailed records of the travel expenses and gifts he had given the Buncombe County
officials. The government now had Wiseman cold, thanks to Creighton’s information.
assistance. The government used Creighton’s information to get a search warrant that led
for its upcoming indictment of Greene, Stone and Wiseman. At the SBI office, the case
agents and prosecutor focused their questions on the evolution of the relationship between
Wiseman and county officials, and on trip-by-trip questions of who went where and when.
This was a marathon 4.5-hour session, and Creighton was honest and forthright throughout.
Over the last week of July and the first week of August, 2018, the SBI agent made
multiple requests for additional text messages and items, which Creighton produced. For
example, the SBI agent was trying to confirm one specific trip to Napa that seemed to be
indicated on credit cards, and Creighton found text messages that confirmed the trip. The
SBI agent indicated she had been unable to confirm it with other records, so these texts
When the indictment came down on August 7, 2018, Creighton and his counsel
examined the Indictment paragraph by paragraph, and believe that at least 75% of the
factual allegations were divulged to the case agents by Creighton during his cooperation
his cooperation, Jon Creighton has been truthful and complete, and the prosecution team
has confirmed his information was reliable. The case agents have corroborated his
interview statements, and the prosecutor used much of this information, both to obtain the
Wiseman search warrant, and in the grand jury to obtain the “travelgate” indictments of
On September 19, 2018, Buncombe County sued Greene, Creighton and others in
Superior Court seeking civil damages. Creighton then did a rare thing in civil lawsuits,
especially for someone under indictment: he agreed to sit down with counsel for the County
and answer any and all questions they asked. This meeting in January 2019 lasted several
hours, and counsel for the County has indicated Jon’s information was very helpful. Jon
acknowledged his misconduct again and reached a civil settlement which he has paid in
Many times over the past year and a half, the SBI and FBI agents have asked follow-
On April 17, 2019, counsel for the government asked to interview Creighton again
about other persons who were subjects of investigation. Creighton prepared for this
interview, and on May 1, 2019 was interviewed by the SBI for an hour about these
additional subjects.
This memorandum has already addressed some of the factors the Court should
The nature and extent of the assistance Jon Creighton provided was extraordinary.
He not only described the specific offense conduct by himself and others, he researched
and brought to the agents actual physical and digital evidence to prove it. He worked hard
at this assistance, spending dozens of hours finding documents and items, and being
interviewed. Whenever the case agents asked his lawyer a follow-up question, Jon
Jon also divulged everything that happened – he held nothing back, even though
Creighton gave them. The government has also noted to defense counsel that unlike many
who tell the truth only gradually, Creighton was truthful to the case agents right from the
start.
The Court will of course take into consideration the government’s evaluation of the
assistance rendered. Throughout Jon’s cooperation, both the case agents and the lead
prosecutor have told counsel that Creighton’s early, detailed, and continuing assistance was
astounding, has saved the government great time, and has been key to their ongoing
investigations.
Each of the three co-defendants subsequently pled guilty, which is proof that
Creighton’s information and cooperation was effective. And at least two of the co-
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targets of investigations unrelated to Creighton. Jon has caused dominoes to fall, and
IV. Additional Grounds for Departure and/or Variance from the Sentencing Guidelines
As detailed above, Creighton disclosed his offense conduct before he knew whether the
Creighton made this decision even though counsel informed him it was possible that
the investigators would find only Greene’s other unrelated offense conduct. (See Section
Section 5K2.16 applies only “. . . if such offense was unlikely to have been discovered
otherwise. . . .” The government is in a better position to inform the Court on this issue.
But even if these criteria fit imperfectly, his early voluntary disclosure should be grounds
In June and July 2017, Creighton had second thoughts about his conduct, and tried
to quietly make amends. He informed the contractor, Joe Wiseman, that he wanted to pay
back all the travel-related expenses that Wiseman had paid. Creighton asked Wiseman to
compile a list of these expenses, and Wiseman did so, giving Creighton a thumb drive with
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Creighton took the spreadsheet that Wiseman had compiled, and tried to figure out
In August, 2017, Creighton then wrote and sent to Wiseman five personal checks
totaling $72,470. See Exhibit A, copies of the checks. Creighton asked Wiseman to
refrain from submitting several invoices for work completed to the County. Creighton
then told his assistant at the County to not pay several invoices for work that Wiseman (via
his company EIC) had done for the County. This in effect would save the county $72,470.
Total: $72,470
Admittedly, this method did not inform the County of the misdeeds. But many
months before the government discovered the travel misconduct, Creighton was trying to
make amends.
In October 2018, Creighton further showed his remorse and his commitment to taking
responsibility for his conduct by refiling his tax returns for 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017 to
1
As noted above, Creighton later produced this electronic spreadsheet to the case agents, and it became a
key source and roadmap for the ongoing investigation.
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Creighton incurred the expense of hiring a tax accountant to calculate the taxes,
penalties and interest due for each re-filed year, and paid these amounts at the same time
as he re-filed:
By taking the travel benefits in the final few years of his public service, Jon
Creighton inflicted upon himself a significant reduction of his state retirement benefits.
In 2012, the North Carolina legislature passed a law that changed whether and how
felons can receive state retirement benefits. Under N.C.G.S. § 135-18.10A and § 135-
4(ii), upon his conviction of this felony, Creighton lost credit for any contributions he made
after December 1, 2012. The state retirement system has re-calculated his retirement
If Creighton lives to age 83, which is his life expectancy under North Carolina’s
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As with many retirement systems, the amount of monthly pension depends mostly
on how much money the worker made in the last five years of employment. For Jon
Creighton, those were his best-compensated years, and thus he punished himself by
Jon was born and grew up in Asheville. The friends and family who have known
him since childhood all call him “Jonnie”. His father was the longtime manager of a local
A&P grocery store. His mother was a registered nurse, and also worked as a clerk for the
Jon and Pat Creighton have been married for 38 years. They have resided since
1979 in the home that Jon’s parents raised him. Both Jon and Pat work on a large
vegetable garden each summer, and Jon has a workshop where he makes household and
equipment repairs. They never had children and lived a modest lifestyle. Creighton is a
frugal man. In his more than fifty years of driving, Jon has had a grand total of five
automobiles. He has a rule that always amused his wife Pat: if he must call the tow truck
Creighton worked in public service all but two years of his adult life. As with many
people who work in the same job for dozens of years, Jon’s identity and self became
and work, and the period of time of the offense conduct, it is important to understand the
jobs, responsibilities, and work ethic that Creighton had over his more than 34 years
Creighton began working for Buncombe County in 1982 and was promoted to the
Director of Planning and Development in 1985 at the age of 32. The tasks and scope of
Jon Creighton’s work as Planning Director evolved and expanded over time. At first,
when he moved into the job his work mostly involved small construction projects of less
than $5 million, and only two townships in Buncombe had zoning regulations. During his
early tenure, the County took over erosion control from the State, created a water shed
zone, and established many other regulatory functions of a slowly growing county and its
townships.
But beginning in the late 1990s, Buncombe County grew fast and strong.
Creighton oversaw and supervised all county building construction and renovation
projects.
Some were smaller projects, although county commissioners and Jon did not think
of them as small, but rather as important to the neighborhood people who used them.
For example, one of these smaller projects was the new solid waste transfer station.
The county had many years of capacity remaining at the landfill but was not gaining
operating income from the landfill because many haulers couldn’t or wouldn’t use the old
transfer station, because of long lines and/or the haulers had trash that wouldn’t go through
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station. Creighton oversaw construction of a new public transfer station that allowed the
county to receive more garbage, which translated into more revenue. The county is
receiving more trash income and can buy the equipment it needs and have money to build
The county built the Enka Sports Park over 20 years ago when soccer was just
becoming popular. Now it’s in very high demand, has walking trails and a disc golf course,
The two largest building projects that Creighton oversaw were the courthouse
addition/safety renovation, and the roof/life safety renovations to Asheville High School.
The courthouse addition and renovation gave new life to a grand 1920’s building. The
Asheville High project was special to Jon since he was a graduate. It was designed by
Douglas Ellington, who also did city hall and the First Baptist Church downtown. The
county spent $25 million on the high school renovation, and the facility is expected to last
Other projects were large and sprawling, and some citizens and politicians were
concerned that costs would run away. But Creighton gained a reputation for onsite visits,
Creighton helped usher in unprecedented and nearly continuous growth in all parts
of Buncombe County. A graphic showing many of the projects and their locations is
attached as Exhibit B.
full duties as Planning Director. The two jobs involved preparing for many meetings, and
then attending or conducting the meetings. For example, Creighton participated in:
Two county commissioners meetings per month, plus a pre-meeting for each.
At least one construction meeting per month, and if there were multiple projects
A senior staff meeting every Monday morning and department head meeting
monthly.
coming before the planning board and made sure the fire marshal, erosion
control, stormwater, 911 addressing, and senior planning staff had all signed off
Air Quality
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Cooperative Extension
Landfill
Jon spent much time on the phone answering citizen and politician complaints,
including simple complaints about neighbors such as junk cars in the yard, cutting trees, or
muddy water coming off the property when it rained. He tried to deal with each person
Creighton handled all the RFP’s/RFQ’s for projects and services, and led all the
interview processes for these. On construction projects, Jon approved all monthly pay
Richard Norejko worked alongside Jon for 34 years, and describes how Creighton
was instrumental in much of the progress of business recruitment and public works
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county incentives. Some of these were small like Highland Brewing where Jon
recommended an incentive of $10,000 and some were very large and complex where the
county gave millions of dollars in incentives plus built a 100,000 square foot building and
leased it back to General Electric as part of recruiting a plant to land hundreds of jobs.
Creighton was responsible for the presentations to the commissioners and at public
hearings.
Another important task that Creighton performed as Asst. County Manager every
two years was to help develop and make the presentation to Moody’s and Standard & Poor
rating agencies so the County could achieve good bond ratings and borrow money. This
was a tremendous amount of work that took many hours. About eight years ago the
County was upgraded to AAA bond rating for the first time, which was an important
milestone.
Jon really liked his job. He found it challenging, exhausting and rewarding. The
citizenry of Buncombe County is not quiet and docile. Mountain people. Creighton
enjoyed these interactions with citizens who had comments, complaints and constructive
criticism.
The businessmen and women in Buncombe County were not exactly “adversaries”
of Creighton and the Planning Department, but they were certainly often at odds. One of
Creighton’s important job tasks was to plan and regulate building and development through
county codes and regulations. Another task was to oversee projects that were being done
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over proposed regulations, or tense conferences when a contractor was off-task somehow.
Yet several prominent local businesspeople have written letters to the Court describing
Brett Cannady has lived in Buncombe County all his life and was an owner of a
Our firm, Ed Holmes and Associates Land Surveyors, has had a working
relationship with Buncombe County for a number of years, and we have
worked under Jon’s direction or alongside Jon on projects such as AB Tech’s
Asheville and Enka Campuses, the Buncombe County Landfill, GE Aviation,
Old Dominion Trucking, and Volvo/Linamar, among others. In all the years
of our working relationship, I have noted Jon’s diligence in being involved
in every aspect of each project, knowing the details of plans proposed and
submitted, keeping up with budgets, and ensuring that consultants and
contractors stayed on task and on budget. . . .
Letter of Ed Holmes, Exhibit E.
Holmes also served for three years on the Buncombe County Planning and
Zoning Board, and this gave him a different vantage point to view Creighton’s work.
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Just as in our typical work/client relationship, I always noted how Jon did his
very best to listen to County Commissioners, listen to land development
advocates and anti-land development advocates, listen to the Board and
expert advisors, and then work to meld information together to craft draft
policy.
Id.
businessman and accountant who served for many years on boards and committees of
Buncombe County, eventually becoming chair of the Planning Board. Hughes writes:
Independent Business Owners (CIBO), located in Asheville. The group often had
natural conflicts with regulation by the Planning Department and Board. Plemmons
writes, in part:
interacted with Creighton over many years as a project manager. Young describes his
During the course of these projects I came to know and respect Jon for his
leadership and relentless commitment to Buncombe County. From my
perspective Jon always did what was in the best interest of Buncombe
County; and the citizens of our county continue to reap the benefits of his
and his staff's commitment and efforts to move our county forward. I can
honestly tell you that in all my dealings with Mr. Creighton on a daily basis
over the span of numerous years and successful projects; regardless of recent
events, that Jon never once exhibited anything other than professional and
honest behavior rooted in his desire to move Buncombe County forward.
Letter of Jim Young, Exhibit H.
The Court should note that it took some courage by the local businessmen who did
contracting work for the County to write a letter on behalf of Jon Creighton – since this
case involves Creighton accepting gifts from a contractor, the letter could prompt the
government to investigate, or the public to speculate. But each businessman and woman
Jon Creighton conscientiously and without fanfare cared for his mother and father
2
You can easily judge the character of a man by how he treats those who can do nothing
for him. – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.
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Dr. Brison Robertson first met Jon about 25-30 years ago when he would
accompany his father for health care visits. Dr. Robertson has not seen or talked to Jon
for over three years, but when he learned of Jon’s offense, he decided to write a letter to
Jon was also a licensed electrician and during off time from his county job
he would take on various projects employing his father as his helper. This
was a very special time for his advanced age father with failing health and
they continued this for several years until his father’s death. They were
quite the comedic team. Following this I would see Jon when he would
accompany his mother to most of her visits to our office and through several
hospitalizations and eventual nursing home car. She was a lovable rascal
and [I] remember him having to fetch her off the streets of Asheville at night
after she slipped out of Mission hospital after dark against medical advice.
She was frequently a misbehaving patient, but I never saw any anger,
embarrassment, or frustration out of Jon, just a calm, caring sense of humor
about her ordeals.
Letter of Brison Robertson, M.D., Exhibit I.
Pat Henke was a co-worker and friend of Jon’s wife, Pat Creighton. Over the years,
Henke helped the Creightons and Jon’s mother in their side hobby of selling jewelry at
During these festivals I also had the opportunity to observe his relationship
with his mother. Jon's devotion to his mother was certainly a testament to
Jon's character. His mother was a woman not to be reckoned with. As she
aged, she became more difficult in her demeanor and was struggling with
health issues. Jon was kind and soft spoken when speaking with her and never
demonstrated frustration in her presence. He was completely available for his
mom especially when she was living alone in her own home.
Letter of Pat Henke, Exhibit J.
Stephanie Morgan is a former social worker who lived next door to Jon’s mother,
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I met Jon about 17 years ago; he was my elderly next door neighbor's son,
and had grown up in that house, under chestnut trees that his father planted.
After his father's death, he visited his mother often, taking care of her with
graciousness and humor, and assuring her well-being by also partnering with
my husband and me as extra sets of eyes and ears.
Letter of Stephanie Morgan, Exhibit K.
Many people who worked under Creighton for Buncombe County have written
letters to the Court to explain what kind of person he is. Two recurring themes stand out
First, Jon was a mentor who wanted his employees to flourish. Second, Creighton
understood that workers have family lives as well. Jon, perhaps before it became more
Leigh DeForth worked under Creighton for 10 years, and describes how he taught
his employees to form a steady and clear worth ethic in order to provide good service to
. . . [W]e all worked together not just during the workday but also as he
diligently sought to answer the questions of citizens, Commissioners, and
others no matter the hour or the day of the week. His desire to provide folks
with accurate and prompt responses was just one of things I admire about
Jon's work ethic - he served the people of Buncombe County well, whether
it was wading through policy decisions, or doing what he could to help out a
citizen with a simple or complex problem. This desire drove Jon as an
employee, and as a supervisor, and it defined the professionalism he expected
of us as employees as well.
Letter of Leigh DeForth, Exhibit L.
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take on new responsibilities and tasks, including ones they might not think they
could handle. In other words, he was never afraid to have the people who worked
for him complete tasks well and be recognized – get the glory -- for it.
years, and was a county employee for another 17 years who saw him in action. She writes:
As an employer, Jon showed respect and support for his employees and co-
workers. He appreciated the intelligence of his employees and allowed
creativity and independence in many decisions.
Letter of Cynthia W. Stubblefield, Exhibit M.
Several employees returned to work for Creighton after leaving to pursue other
opportunities. Jon had a maxim that he would tell departing employees: “You can
always leave us once and we’ll take you back.” For example, engineer Michael Goodson
In February, 2007, after being with the state some 15 years I returned to work
for Jon as the county Stormwater Administrator and am currently employed
in that position. I sacrificed several things to leave the state and return to the
county. I returned only because Jon would be my supervisor. During my
tenure here at the county I have always had respect and admiration for the
work Jon provided to the citizens of the county. Jon typically worked much
longer hours than the typical employee and resolved several crisis situations
a day.
I have worked with Jon on several large capital improvement projects for the
county. Jon always tried to find ways to cut costs and save taxpayers money.
He did this by keeping projects at or under budget and on schedule.
Letter of Michael R. Goodson, Exhibit N.
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Planning Department on many projects, including “landfill siting, courts expansion, jail
construction, county office and service expansion” and other projects. Bradley writes:
Jon was always willing to allow his employees to grow and took pride and
pleasure in seeing them broaden their horizons, in that way he expanded the
scope and performance of county operations. I was one of those he lifted. His
reach extended from his own staff to young people who worked in other
departments and showed the spark to do more. . . .
He accepts his wrongdoing and has offered to me no excuse nor explanation
for his part in the activity, nor has he shifted a portion of blame to others or
otherwise tried to minimize his actions.
Letter of Michael Bradley, Exhibit O.
Heather Higgins worked with Creighton for many years, and writes:
Creighton was also willing to make the unorthodox hire. Josh O’Conner, who
Creighton hired in 2007, is amazed that “a kid growing up in a 525 sq ft log cabin with a
GED would land the opportunity to serve my community in such an impactful way.”
Denise Braine worked in the Planning Department for 33 years under Jon. She
Over the years the one thing that made Jon so special was his belief in "family
first," not only in his own life, but he also extended that belief to employees
and others with families.
That was also the case when my husband went through a major health crisis
in 2007 due to liver failure. He was extremely ill and had a difficult time
being cared for and sleeping in our waterbed. Jon came in my office one day
and said they were having a new bed and frame delivered to our house within
the week. An unusual gift, but an answer to prayer during a very difficult
time. No one knows he did that for us when it happened, nor has he ever
mentioned it to anyone else to my knowledge.
The loss of his integrity, respect, and good standing in the community is
likely the hardest price to pay for someone like Jon. It will continue to rest
hard on his heart and soul for the rest of his life.
Letter of Denise M. Braine, Exhibit R.
In 2010, Jon and his wife purchased a small house in Mitchell County that adjoined
land on which they already owned a small cabin. The house was down the river from the
Pigeon Roost Fundamental Brethren Church. The tiny church asked to buy the house
from the Creighton’s to use as a fellowship hall, but could not raise the funds. Jon and his
wife then agreed to donate an easement for use of the home by the church.
Pastor Jerry Barrett wrote to the Court to describe this good deed:
The fellowship hall has been a wonderful asset to our church. The
membership uses it for birthday parties, meetings, family reunions, Preacher
appreciation day, and celebrations honoring Christmas, Easter, Mother's
Day, etc. We also use it to prepare apple butter that we sell as a fundraiser to
help with the upkeep of the church and the fellowship hall.
Letter of Pastor and Staff of Pigeon Roost Fundamental Bretheran Church,
Exhibit S.
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More than 25 friends and citizens of Buncombe County have written letters
in support of Jon Creighton. Here are just a few excerpts of how he has earned
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I have known Jon Creighton since I was approximately 10 years old since he
is the uncle of my best friend from childhood. Jon, and his wife Pat, have
been constant figures in my life and have always treated me as family, which
is why I introduce them as my uncle and aunt to people in my life. They have
always included me in their life and have always cared for me as if I was
their own. Since moving to Asheville last year to complete my medical
education, they have been my family away from home.
Letter of Paul White, Exhibit X.
Jon Creighton can be impatient. While waiting for sentencing, Jon decided he
wanted to begin doing community service work. His choice reflected his longtime
practical nature: in March he read that a fire at the First Step Farm badly damaged the
men’s dormitory. First Step Farm is a licensed residential supervised living center for
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in any way. He was told that because fewer men could be housed after the fire,
maintenance of the farm fields was lacking. So, every Tuesday and Wednesday since
April 9, 2019, Jon has driven out to Candler and helped push-mow the rolling fields, which
takes 3-4 hours. The Executive Director wrote in his letter to the Court:
See Exhibit U.
Last week, Creighton helped to install new smoke detectors and GFI for the First
In addition, the pace of retired life did not suit Creighton. He enrolled in a basic
welding class at AB Tech Community College and enjoyed it immensely. Earlier this
month he completed the program and received a welding certificate. Jon plans to take the
Why did Jon Creighton, a civil servant who lived his life with a solid moral compass,
who loved Buncombe County and worked hard to improve the community, commit this
It is hard to attempt an explanation without appearing to shift blame. Jon does not
want to shift blame at all. He ponders his mistakes. There was a culture in the 2000s of
vendors paying for dinners and wine for county commissioners at municipal conferences.
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but did not want to quit his job or get fired. Wanda was mercurial. Wanda was powerful.
Wiseman and Greene knew that Creighton and his wife had a hobby of traveling.
Creighton would rationalize to himself: the contract prices were reasonable, and
Wiseman did a good job. After all, Wiseman had saved the county a lot of money by
suggesting that the landfill’s life capacity could be extended by years simply by changing
the slope, which the county then achieved. (The Court should note two points that may
be unusual in public official cases. First, although Wiseman and his company were given
preferential treatment, the work of the contracts awarded to him was done and completed.
Second, it appears that the prices Wiseman charged for that work were not higher than the
3
reasonable ranges normally charged by vendors and contractors for this type of work. )
All of this is context, but Creighton knows none of it excuses his choices. He
knows he is at fault and could have stopped the travel expense offense conduct.
Jon Creighton has already suffered several punishments directly because of his
offense conduct.
3 The Factual Basis filed by the government in Mr. Wiseman’s case includes the following
paragraph:
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Wells Fargo force-closed the Creightons’ bank accounts, as often happens in white
collar cases that receive publicity. See Exhibit W. He had to scramble to find new
banking.
Creighton brought shame upon himself and his family name. Many of the people
who wrote letters to the Court shared the same theme: that Jon has been wounded by the
self-inflicted great loss of his reputation and standing in the community. The Asheville
Citizen-Times newspaper has repeatedly published the details of his offense conduct, plea
agreement, and factual basis. A large photo of him walking into the courthouse for his
plea hearing appeared above the fold on its front page. The local television news waited
on the courthouse steps for each hearing, and broadcast his walk of shame.
When his conviction becomes final, he will permanently lose his firearm rights,
VII. Conclusion
Jon Creighton understands that his criminal conduct may cause Buncombe County
residents to lose confidence in their public servants. He has tried to repair that trust by
cooperating early and exhaustively with the federal investigators and the county lawyers.
sainthood. He is now a felon. He has done wrong, and he knows and acknowledged it.
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But this memo makes clear that Jon’s conduct represents a marked deviation from
an otherwise law-abiding life. He has been a good husband, a good son, a good neighbor
and friend. He was for more than 30 years a diligent public servant and a good boss.
Small businessmen in Buncombe respected his calm fairness. The information in this
memorandum, and the many people who have written letters to the Court and will come to
support him at sentencing, all should help the Court and the residents of Buncombe County
learn that the law, society, and community do not require or need him to go to prison.
Gall v. United States, 552 U.S. 38, 48, 128 S.Ct. 586, 595-96 (2007)
similarly situated defendants. But here, Creighton’s early and extraordinary cooperation
who did not divulge their misconduct. The statute also stresses that every sentence
4 In the U.S. Sentencing Commission’s latest data report, 25% of bribery defendants in 2017
received a non-imprisonment sentence. See https://www.ussc.gov/research/quick-facts/bribery .
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government, his admirable personal characteristics, his work ethic and history, his lack of
any criminal history, his age, his post-offense conduct, and the deep support of him by
family, friends and colleagues, all in combination with the other sentencing factors
explained in this memorandum, Jon Creighton asks the Court to sentence him to a term of
three years’ probation, the first year including home detention with electronic monitoring,
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
I hereby certify that the foregoing document was served on the parties and counsel
of record on August 13th, 2019 by submitting it to the Court for electronic notice.
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