Payment Allegations Against Gaston Co. Sheriff

Over the last two weeks, an accusation made by Gaston County Sheriff candidate Robbie Waldrop on whether current Gaston County Sheriff Chad Hawkins used taxpayer money to pay Endgame Consulting to help himself get reelected, has caused speculations to swirl among those invested in the election. In the aftermath of Waldrop making those claims amid the sheriff’s debate on Jan. 29, rumors, denials and involvement by lawyers have become a part of the race. 

The election involves two Republicans running against each other in the primary. Early voting starts Thursday, Feb. 12, and Election Day is March 3. The winner of the primary will be the Sheriff, as there are no democratic challengers.

In an effort to try and clear up misinformation and inuendoes, the following is a timeline of what is known at this point in time on the allegations made by Waldrop. It should be noted that this timeline does not insinuate or suggest any illegal activity occurred by any party involved:

*2021: Chad Hawkins paid Crafted Media Group $3,150, according to campaign finance records. According to its Facebook page, “Crafted Media is a full-service, consulting and voter outreach firm committed to being the most crucial component of your campaign.” It’s owned by Brandon Craft.

*2022: During his campaign for Sheriff, Hawkins paid Crafted Media Group $13,000, according to campaign finance records.

*Nov. 8, 2022: Hawkins is elected as Gaston County Sheriff. 

*Dec. 5, 2022: Hawkins is sworn in as Gaston County Sheriff.

*Dec. 19, 2022: Craft is hired by the Gaston County Sheriff’s Office.

*Feb. 17, 2023: Endgame Consulting, LLC is formed by Craft, Conrad Pogorzelski III, and Jason Williams. Pogorzelski managed Mark Robinson’s 2020 campaign for Lt. Governor and served as his chief of staff in that office. Pogorzelski was also general consultant and senior adviser during Robinson’s gubernatorial run. Pogorzelski resigned in Sept. 2024, three days after a scandalous report surfaced on CNN about alleged remarks made by Robinson on a porn website years earlier.

*June 14, 2024: Craft’s employment with the Gaston County Sheriff’s office comes to an end.

*July 2024: The first services performed by Endgame Consulting for the Gaston County Sheriff’s Office starts.

*Aug. 12, 2024: The first invoice date is posted for Endgame Consulting to receive its first check for $2,500 paid by Gaston County, for what is listed on the description portion of the check for “July Retainer.” Endgame Consulting is responsible for social media and marketing for the Sheriff’s office.

*Sept. 3, 2024: Belinda Robinson, a deputy with the Gaston County Sheriff’s Office, sends an email to the department that gives numbers to vendors for the county and asks them to do so for Endgame Consulting.

*Sept. 5, 2024: The first $2,500 check is sent to Endgame Consulting. The check is sent by the county’s finance department. Initial checks appear to have automated approval signatures from Gatson County Manager Matt Rhoten, and Gaston County Auditor Kyle Sutherland. The checks ultimately become electronic funds transfer (direct deposit).

*Sept. 5, 2024–May 8, 2025: Endgame Consulting receives a total of 10 checks totaling $25,000 from Gaston County, before, according to multiple people, an internal audit is completed and all payments to Endgame come to a stop. It’s realized no contract between Endgame and the Sheriff’s office exists or can be found.

*March 10, 2025: A Contract Control Sheet is prepared by Dwight Holland, the Business Service Administrator with the Gaston County Sheriff’s Office, for Endgame Consulting to provide services. The proposal is backdated to April 26, 2024, presumably to include the previous checks paid to Endgame under the proposed contract. The Contract Control Sheet is signed by Sheriff Hawkins. The point of contact for Endgame is Craft. 

The Contract Control Sheet states: “Per the Contract Agreement – Gaston County Sheriff’s Office shall provide Endgame Consulting, LLC as full and complete compensation in the sum of $2,500.00 to be paid in the first week of each month on a monthly basis. Based upon this, I listed the Total (Fiscal Year Amount) as $30,000 ($2,500 per month x 12 months).”
Endgame Consulting submits a seven-page contract for the services.

*March 13, 2025: The Endgame Consulting Contract Control Sheet is sent to the clerk. 

*May 8, 2025: The last payment of $2,500 is sent to Endgame Consulting.

*July 1, 2025: Sheriff Hawkins signs a Contract Control Sheet to have Cardinal Franking Services, LLC replace the work of Endgame Consulting. Pogorzelski, one of the three operators of Endgame Consulting, solely operates Cardinal Franking Services. The contract proposal is the exact same as was with Endgame Consulting – a seven-page offer for 12-months at $2,500 a month for marketing and social media work.

*July 8, 2025: Hawkins’ campaign pays Endgame Consulting $10,281.91. That’s the only payment listed for the year, according to campaign finance records. 

*July 17, 2025: The Contract Control Sheet is sent to the clerk’s office.

*Unknown Date: According to an internal document, the contract that was proposed by Cardinal Franking Services is “Not Fully Executed.” The document also states, “ VOID – to provide services to include Social Media Marketing, content creation, and marketing development.”

*Dec. 10, 2025: In an internal email between multiple departments within the county, including the Sheriff’s office, Beth B. Griffiths, the Procurement Services Manager with the county, states, “Hi Kyle – some background on the Endgame payments below – Gwen had the contract reviewed by Legal, but it didn’t route for execution.
“I don’t think I knew about the Endgame / Cardinal connection at the time of the email below. Dwight pulled Endgame contract from routing on May 2025, saying, “It is my understanding that we are going to switch vendors for the purpose of providing our Marketing Services..ie. social media, marketing support, content creation, etc… Thus, we will not utilize EndGame Consulting moving forward.” ”

*Jan. 22, 2026: Craft and Williams are no longer listed as partners with Endgame Consulting with the Secretary of State’s Office.

*Jan. 29, 2026: The Gaston County Sheriff’s debate takes place at Gaston Christian School. During the debate, Waldrop says to the crowd, while holding sheets of paper, 
“Those three principals ensure that our tax dollars are going toward things like the jail, the courthouse, our employees and not our campaign marketing team. So, what I have here are checks that were written by the sheriff’s office to my opponent’s campaign marketing team in the amount of $2,500 per check. There are probably nine or 10 here.”
At that point, Sheriff Hawkins says quietly, “That’s absolutely false.”
Waldrop continues to the audience: “That’s your money that’s paying for his reelection that you didn’t consent to donate. That’s not ethical spending, ladies and gentlemen. And I’ll tell you this, to humanize it for you, you may not think $2,500 is a lot of money. You may think 20-something thousand is not a lot of money. I would love for you to go tell that detention officer working the jail right now, who has three kids, has to support his family, that $2,500 is not a lot of money. Or twenty thousand is not per year. I think he would disagree with you.”

*Feb. 5, 2026: On his personal Facebook page, Pogorzelski posts a copy of a cease-and-desist letter that was given to Waldrop for what Endgame claims was “false and malicious defamatory statements in relation to the alleged misuse of taxpayer dollars to fund the Sherriff’s campaign and to pay Endgame for political campaign services.” The letter “demands” a public retraction to set the record straight.

*Feb. 6, 2026: Sheriff Hawkins posts on Facebook a copy of a cease-and-desist letter that was given to Waldrop for what the sheriff says was, “not opinion, rhetoric, or debate-stage exaggeration. You told voters that taxpayer checks paid for Sheriff Hawkins’ campaign. That statement is false, and you had no basis to make it.” The letter also demands a public retraction.

*2026: There are no active records for Cardinal Franking Services listed with the Secretary of State’s Office. 

NOTES: 
The size of the checks determines whether the head of finance, the country manager or county auditor reviews the checks before they are processed. 
Sheriffs do not have the authority to contractually bind county funds, unless previously authorized by the Board of Commissioners.
County procurement policy does not require a written contract for professional services except for contracts over $90,000.

DISCLOSURE: 
I first met Robbie Waldrop when I was a soccer coach at York Chester Junior High school in 1992. Robbie was either a 7th- or 8th-grader. I didn’t see or speak to him until 2025, when I met him at a Gaston County political function. He did not remember me from York Chester.