Just three weeks before their cases were scheduled to go to trial, four of the five men charged with a wide range of drug and public corruption charges that have rocked Union County pleaded guilty in federal court Tuesday afternoon.

Former sheriff Howard Wells, former tax assessor Willie Randall Jr. and Union County residents Willard Dee Farr and Lapriest Darnell Beacham stood before Judge Henry Floyd in U.S. District Court in Spartanburg and admitted to some of the crimes they are charged with. They did so as part of a plea agreement in which the prosecution agreed to drop most of the charges against them in exchange for the admission and their complete cooperation with federal authorities.

The four, along with former supervisor Donnie Betenbaugh, were indicted in October on federal drug and corruption charges. Their cases — and Betenbaugh’s — were originally scheduled to go to trial on Feb. 3. The case against Betenbaugh, who was not in the courtroom Thursday, is still pending.

Wells, who served as sheriff for 16 years before being defeated for re-election in 2008, was originally named in a three-count indictment charging him with lying to federal investigators and witness tampering. On Thursday he pleaded guilty to a single count of lying to federal investigators for which he faces a maximum possible sentence of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Prosecutors told the court Wells made loans totaling $210,000 to an individual resulting in his gaining “a significant interest income.” When questioned about this by FBI agents in March 2009, Wells “made materially false statements” to agents concerning the number of loans he had made, the taxable income he had earned from them and the existence of documentation regarding the loans and the income they had generated for him.

Randall, who served as tax assessor for 15 years until July, was originally charged with Betenbaugh in a 15-count indicitment accusing them of conspiracy, extortion, soliciting and accepting bribes, money laundering, structuring financial transactions to evade federal reporting requirements and knowingly allowing the Assessor’s Office to be used to store and distribute cocaine and Hydrocodone. On Thursday, Randall pleaded guilty to six of those charges and faces a maximum possible sentence of 190 years in prison and a $5.25 million fine.

Prosecutors said Randall conspired with Betenbaugh to violate the Hobbes Act which prohibits public officials from using their offices to enrich themselves. On the counts Randall pleaded guilty to, the indictment states that he and Betenbaugh “extorted the payment of an illegal $50,000 kickback payment in connection with the 2005 purchase of a building and real property in Union County, and engaged in financial transactions designed to conceal their involvement in the kickback scheme.”

The building, according to the indictment, was the American Federal Building on Main Street.

Betenbaugh also faces an additional 25 charges of witness tampering, lying to federal agents, misprison of a felony, obstruction of justice and illegally distributing Lorazepam, a Schedule IV controlled substance. If convicted on all 40 charges, Betenbaugh faces a maximum possible sentence of 618 years in federal prison and a $13 million fine.

Randall also pleaded guilty to a separate charge of conspiracy to distribute cocaine and a mixture containing methamphetamine. On this charge, Randall faces an additional maximum possible sentence of 20 years in prison and a fine of $20 million.

Beacham was charged in the same indictment as Randall and also pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute cocaine and a mixture containing methamphetamine. He, too, faces a possible maximum sentenct of 20 years in prison and a fine of $20 milion.

Farr was originally charged in a three-count indictment with conspiracy to commit extortion, aiding and abetting former City of Union mayor Bruce Morgan and former city building inspector Jeff Lawson to extort money from contractors looking to do business with the city and lying to federal investigators. On Thursday, Farr pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit extortion and faces a maximum possible sentence of 20 years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine.

Prosecutors said Farr helped Morgan and Lawson extort a $6,000 kickback from a contractor seeking a city contract.

Morgan and Lawson pleaded guilty to conspiring to take kickbacks in September 2008 and were sentenced in February 2009 to five years and 11 months and 12 months and one day, respectively. They are currently serving their sentences in federal prison.

After accepting their guilty pleas, Floyd said the four will be sentenced in approximately 45 days. The time will allow pre-sentencing reports recommending an appropriate sentence on each of them to be prepared.