Thomas Ravenel

Infobox Politician
name= Thomas Ravenel

---

caption=
office= State Treasurer
term_start= January 2007
term_end= July 2007
birth_date= Birth date and age|1962|8|8|mf=y
birth_place= Charleston, South Carolina
predecessor= Grady Patterson
successor = Ken Wingate (interim)
Converse Chellis (permanent)
party = Republican
religion =
spouse =
profession= Real Estate Developer, Politician
website =
footnotes =

Thomas Ravenel (born 1962) is a South Carolina politician and former State Treasurer. He is the son of former South Carolina Congressman Arthur Ravenel, Jr.

Background

Prior to running for office, Ravenel founded the Ravenel Development Corporation [http://www.raveneldevelop.com/thomasravenel.html] , a commercial real estate company.

Ravenel ran for the U.S. Senate in 2004, seeking the seat left open when Fritz Hollings retired. He came in third in the Republican primary election. After Ravenel endorsed Republican Jim DeMint, DeMint went on to win the Republican runoff and the general election. [ [http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,284637,00.html FOXNews.com - White House Hopeful Rudy Giuliani's South Carolina Campaign Chairman Indicted on Cocaine Charges - Politics | Republican Party | Democratic Party | Political Spectrum ] ] Subsequently, Ravenel was fined over $19,000 by the Federal Election Commission for improperly filing the required forms for the election.

[ [http://thestatecom.typepad.com/ygatoday/2006/10/index.html S.C. Politics Today ] ] Ravenel ran for South Carolina Treasurer in 2006, defeating 9-term state treasurer Democrat Grady Patterson in the 2006 general election. [ [http://www.answers.com/topic/south-carolina-state-elections-2006 South Carolina state elections, 2006: Information and Much More from Answers.com ] ]

Education

Ravenel graduated from The Citadel in Charleston, receiving his B.S. in 1985. He later received his M.B.A. from the University of South Carolina [http://www.scstatehouse.net/man07/39_StateOff.pdf] in 1991.

Federal drug charges

In June 2007, Ravenel was indicted on federal cocaine distribution charges by US Attorney Reginald Lloyd. [http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/06/19/treasurer.indicted.ap/index.html] The filed charges allege that Ravenel purchased less than 500 grams of cocaine through an intermediary in Charleston, South Carolina in 2005, prior to his election as treasurer but after his abortive entry in the 2004 Senate race.

Governor Mark Sanford suspended Ravenel from his duties as state treasurer upon learning of the charges, and appointed Columbia attorney Ken Wingate to replace Ravenel on an interim basis. Meanwhile, Ravenel decided to enter a rehabilitation facility, according to prosecutors. [http://www.charlotte.com/breaking_news/story/175296.html]

Ravenel had been volunteering for the Rudolph Giuliani presidential campaign, serving as his South Carolina state chairman. Ravenel resigned from that post after the indictment, according to Giuliani campaign officials. The campaign has subsequently replaced Ravenel with Barry Winn who was co-chair of South Carolina finance committee. [ [http://www.wilmingtonstar.com/article/20070620/APN/706200748 | StarNewsOnline.com | Star-News | Wilmington, NC ] ]

On July 24, Ravenel resigned as Treasurer. [ [http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2007/07/24/former-giulani-state-co-chair-resigns-from-office/ CNN Political Ticker: All politics, all the time Blog Archive - Former Giuliani state co-chair resigns from office « - Blogs from CNN.com ] ] The South Carolina General Assembly elected state Rep. Converse Chellis to serve out the remainder of his term. [http://www.thestate.com/news/story/127236.html] [ [http://www.wltx.com/news/story.aspx?storyid=52202 WLTX-TV News, Weather, Sports for Columbia and the Midlands of South Carolina ] ]

Ravenel underwent a rehabilitation program in New Mexico, and then returned to plead guilty to "conspiring to buy and distribute less than 100 grams of cocaine" in September 2007. [ [http://www.wcbd.com/midatlantic/cbd/news.apx.-content-articles-CBD-2007-07-27-0022.html News - Charleston, SC ] ] [http://www.thestate.com/breaking/story/165331.html]

entencing

On Friday, March 14, 2008, Thomas Ravenel was sentenced to 10 months in federal prison for drug charges against him, but was not immediately ordered to report to begin his sentence. [ [http://www.wistv.com/Global/story.asp?S=8016756 WIS News 10 - Columbia, South Carolina | Former SC Treasurer sentenced to 10 months ] ]

References

External links

* [http://www.raveneldevelop.com/thomasravenel.html Ravenel Development]