CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Longtime Logan County assessor Rick Grimmett said he had no defense for violating federal banking laws and pleaded guilty Wednesday in federal court in Charleston.
“In other words,” asked U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Johnston, “did you do it?”
“Yes, sir,” Grimmett responded.
Grimmett, 51, admitted that he, along with an unidentified associate, withdrew $15,000 cash from the Logan Bank and Trust, in Man, in two withdrawals, to elude a requirement in federal law that banks must report all cash transactions in excess of $10,000.
The practice is known as “structuring” and is a felony under federal law. Grimmett faces a maximum of five years in prison and a fine up to $250,000 when Johnston sentences him on March 11.
From early 2009 through December 2012, he and his associate structured more than $366,000 in cash from various banks, according to a news release from U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin’s office…