Pacolet Officer Fredrick Payne Booked In The Jail He Used To Work At

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The numbers in this one are almost too small to believe. Two hundred and three dollars. Two hundred and seventy-six dollars. And an alleged lie to state investigators that cost a police officer his career and his freedom.

Fredrick Trent Payne, 43, was an officer with the Pacolet Police Department when, according to arrest warrants, he paid $203 for sexual acts at Royal Springs Massage on May 5. Six days later, investigators say he called Founders Federal Credit Union and filed a false $276 claim — part of a scheme, they say, to defraud the financial institution out of less money than a decent grocery run.

Then investigators got their turn

On May 21, State Law Enforcement Division agents sat down with Payne as part of a criminal investigation. Authorities say he intentionally provided false statements during that interview — and that alleged lie became its own charge: obstruction of justice.

The dominoes fell in order. The Pacolet Police Department suspended Payne without pay once officials learned about the SLED investigation. He resigned on a Wednesday. He was charged on a Thursday. By the end of the week, the officer was standing in front of a booking camera.

The jail he used to work

There’s a bitter irony in the booking photo: Payne spent more than six years working at the same county jail where he was ultimately booked. The man who once worked the other side of that counter now has his own mugshot in the facility’s system.

Payne is charged with a crime against a federally chartered financial institution, first-offense prostitution, and obstruction of justice. Police said both alleged offenses happened while he was off duty.

Four hundred seventy-nine dollars, three charges

Add it up and the alleged scheme was worth $479 — the price, if the warrants are right, of throwing away a badge, a pension track and a clean record. Payne is accused, not convicted, and every charge will have to be proven in court.

The case is a small one by dollar value, but the pattern it fits is not: an officer whose own alleged paperwork — a false fraud claim — is what connected the dots. The files watch the watchers in more ways than one.