A self-proclaimed South Carolina crackhead is going to jail for sawing off a mentally disabled man’s hand to collect insurance money.
Gerald Hardin III, of Cayce, pleaded guilty in federal court Tuesday to sawing off the hand of Michael “Porkchop” Weaver to collect roughly $671,000 from insurance policies taken out by another man, David Player, that paid out if Weaver were to die or be dismembered, reported The State.
Weaver, 52 – and referred to as a “mentally disabled … illiterate, alcoholic” by authorities – was in on the scheme. According to authrorities, when Hardin and Player tied his left arm to a tree with rags, stretched it out and removed the hand with a pole saw, reported the paper.
“I was on drugs real bad at the time … crack cocaine,” Hardin told U.S. District Court Judge Cameron Currie before his plea of guilty to a felony charge of conspiracy to commit federal mail fraud, the paper reported.
Player’s wife uncovered the plot while she was sifting through documents during a divorce proceeding against him, according to the paper. She found a briefcase filled with credit cards in Weaver’s name gave them to her attornety. Once the attorney passed the briefcase on to federal officials, the FBI opened an investigation.
“Mr. Player is the prime mover in this case,” the paper reported U.S. Attorney Dean Eichelberger said in court.
Player held Power of Attorney for Weaver since 1995 after growing up with him, United States Attorney’s Office spokesperson Winston Holliday told the Daily News. He used this capacity to open multiple insurance policies in his name. As Weaver’s legal representative, Player stood to collect on the policies in the case of a death or dismemberment.
After the two men sawed Weaver’s hand off, they took him to a hospital claiming they had lost control of a chainsaw while trimming a tree, reported the paper. Doctors tried to reattach it, but had to re-amputate it a week later. Doctors took note of how clean the cut was and notified authorities.
An orthopedist told officials that the hand was “completely severed at a right angle to the forearm … a surprisingly clean cut and one that had minimal shredding of the flesh,” reported the paper. Chainsaw injuries, according to Eichelberger, are “virtually always jagged, at compound angles and demonstrate signs of skipping over the bone.”
Although Weaver was in on the scheme, United States Attorney’s Office spokesperson Winston Holliday told the Daily News, it made little sense to prosecute him because of his low mental capacity. Player talked him into the scheme by offering to pay off his moped and buy him a new trailer.
“They were extremely close,” said Holliday, “Weaver looked up to him.”
Player spent about $292,000 in insurance proceeds by the time the police were on to him, reported the paper.
Hardin was supposed to receive about $5,000 for his participation in the arrangement, according to Holliday. Player decided that rent payments and cash given to fund Hardin’s crack habit would be credited to the original agreed upon amount. The addict ended up with far less cash in hand.
“I didn’t want to do it,” the paper reported Hardin told Currie, but Player insisted.
Hardin will testify against Player at his case in November. An earlier press release from the South Carolina U.S. Attorney’s Office said Hardin faced upwards of 120 years in prison for six counts of mail fraud. He now faces about five years in prison, a $250,000 fine and restitution payments, according to the paper.
Mike Duncan, Player’s attorney, told local media that “Mr. Player cared for Mr. Weaver over many years without compensation and denies involvement in any wrongdoing.”
Hardin will be sentenced November 22.
