Tag: Gov. Wallace Barron

June 9, 1926: Politician C. Donald Robertson Born

Politician C. Donald Robertson was born in Clarksburg on June 9, 1926.

He served Harrison County in the West Virginia House of Delegates for four years beginning in the late 1950s.

He was elected attorney general in 1960 and again in 1964. In 1968, he ran for governor but lost in the Democratic primary to James Sprouse, who would go on to lose to Arch Moore in the general election.

After his defeat, Robertson left public office. In 1971, he, his brother Dana Robertson, and former state Federal Housing Administration Director James F. Haught were indicted on federal charges of taking kickbacks on low-income housing assistance. C. Donald Robertson pleaded guilty to conspiracy and one count of using interstate communication facilities for racketeering. He was sentenced to five years in federal prison and fined $15,000.

It’s believed that Robertson was one of many individuals who helped federal investigators with their probe into former Governor Wally Barron’s administration. That investigation led to criminal indictments of Barron and three other state officials for bid-rigging state contracts and taking kickbacks.

C. Donald Robertson died in Charleston in 1996 at age 69.

February 14, 1968: Governor Barron and Others Indicted

On February 14, 1968, former Governor Wally Barron and five others were indicted by a federal grand jury on bribery and conspiracy charges.

The indictments alleged that members of the Barron Administration, including the governor himself, had set up “dummy corporations” and received kickbacks from people doing business with the state. Five state vendors testified they’d made payments to the dummy firms. After 18 hours of deliberation, the jury found everyone but Barron guilty.

Word soon began to spread that the jury foreman, Ralph Buckalew, had been bribed by Barron. Making the accusation seem more plausible, the jury vote had initially been in favor of convicting Barron, 11-1, with Buckalew as the lone holdout. In 1971, a grand jury indicted Buckalew, Barron, and Barron’s wife, Opal, on bribery charges related to the earlier trial. The former first lady was included because she allegedly handed a paper bag containing $25,000 to the jury foreman’s wife

The former governor pleaded guilty in exchange for charges being dropped against Opal Barron. Buckalew also pleaded guilty. Wally Barron served four years of a 25-year prison sentence.

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