Candidate in 2020 Sumter mayoral race pleads guilty to faking kidnapping

During last year’s election season, a 29-year-old Sumter mayoral candidate was accused of staging her own kidnapping and beating for personal gain and votes. On Wednesday, the accusations were deemed true.
According to Third Circuit Solicitor Ernest “Chip” Finney III, Sabrina Belcher pleaded guilty to two charges, filing a false police report and criminal conspiracy, before Judge Kristi Curtis at the Sumter County Third Judicial Circuit.
The plea of both felony charges resulted in a suspended three-year sentence for Belcher, Finney said. She will serve three years on probation and 80 hours of community service.
Belcher was arrested on Aug. 19, 2020, the day after she reported she was assaulted and kidnapped by an unknown man during an attempted robbery to the Sumter Police Department, according to Sumter Item archives.
Officers who investigated the incident said Belcher worked with a 34-year-old man to stage the kidnapping and beating, which she recorded live on social media.
According to archives, the Sumter Police Department claimed Belcher planned to “discredit a fellow candidate in the recording” and had ongoing plans to “smear other mayoral candidates prior to the election.”
Belcher continued in the race for mayor – she remained eligible with not having been found guilty. All six candidates participated in a debate hosted by The Sumter Item.
The November general election narrowed the field to the top two vote-getters. Mayor David Merchant eventually won. Belcher received the least amount of votes – 1,473 votes – in November with 2.74% of the vote.
“I’m not guilty of the charges that were brought against me,” Belcher told The Sumter Item Thursday. “What was done was what was best for my family and my children.”
Belcher said she thinks her case was handled poorly from the beginning. She said she felt pressured and mistreated during interrogations conducted by the police department last year.
“The officer that interrogated me for over six hours – no bathroom break, inhumane conditions – was indeed my family member,” Belcher said. “The Sumter ... Police Department is doing everything to cover up the conflict of interest.”
According to The Item's previous reporting, the police department said Belcher was not related to the officer who handled her case.
Belcher also claimed the attending officer who served her arrest warrant was someone she never met before.
“We will purse action against the city sometime in the near future,” Belcher said, “well against the Sumter Police Department, for the improper handling of my case.”