Bethea Funeral Home

Bethea Funeral Home in Orangeburg, South Carolina, was a family-owned funeral home founded in 1940 by Robert Bethea Jr. He married Mahalia Brown in 1944, and the couple later had one son, Robert “Bobby”Bethea III. In the late 1950s, when her husband became ill, Mrs. Mahalia B. Bethea operated as a funeral director at Bethea Funeral Home and became the owner after her husband died in 1962.

Bobby Bethea graduated from Orangeburg High School in 1971 and from the University of South Carolina in 1975 with a Bachelor of Science in business administration. The following year, Bethea graduated from the Gupton-Jones College of Mortuary Science in Atlanta with an overall average of 99. He returned to Orangeburg and worked as an apprentice alongside his mother at Bethea Funeral Home. After she died in 1980, he became the sole owner of the family’s funeral business.

In 2000, South Carolina Department of Revenue investigators arrested Robert Bethea III and charged him with four counts of state income tax evasion. The arrest followed an investigation into his business practices conducted by the Department of Revenue. He was accused of failing to file his state income tax returns from 1994 to 1997 and failing to pay $5,699 on state income taxes during that period.

In June 2001, Bethea pled guilty to four counts of failing to file a tax return and was sentenced to a year in prison, with the sentence suspended to five years’ probation, plus court costs for each charge. The sentences ran concurrently. In addition to the standard conditions of probation, Bethea was ordered to pay more than $14,000 in restitution for back taxes, penalties, and interest owed for 1994-1997.

Robert Bethea III continued to operate Bethea Funeral Home and subsequently published ads in The Times and Democrat thanking his supporters in 2004. However, Bethea’s troubles with tax officials were far from over. In March 2008, Robert Bethea III was once again arrested and charged with failing to file state income tax returns from 2000 to 2006. Department of Revenue agents stated Bethea owed more than $26,574 in income tax liability for that period. In July 2008, he was sentenced to 20 days in jail and ordered to pay more than $30,000 in fines and restitution after pleading guilty to multiple counts of failing to file a tax return.

In December 2019, Bethea was charged with operating without a retail license and tax evasion. SCDOR claimed he attempted to evade the payment of individual income tax and sales tax of about $98,934 from 2011 to 2019. The department also alleged he withdrew $278,548 from his bank accounts to put the money “out of the government’s reach.” SCDOR claimed that Bethea admitted that he purposely withdrew the money to avoid payment of a levy. In response, Bethea stated that the allegations were “totally erroneous.”

The warrant also alleged that Bethea, since August 2018, continued to operate his business without a retail license despite being told repeatedly about the process and receiving multiple violations. The arrest warrant claims Bethea was interviewed by agents on September 11, 2019, and admitted he was still operating and that he was aware of his obligations.

According to the warrant, the funeral home performed 38 funerals after the retail license was revoked. If convicted, Bethea faced a maximum sentence of a $200 fine and/or 30 days in jail for the charge of operating without a license and a sentence of up to 5 years in prison and/or a fine of up to $10,000 for the charge of attempted tax evasion.

In an unexpected turn of events, Robert Bethea III died in August 2021. According to his wishes, there was no funeral service. Bethea Funeral Home permanently closed shortly after this death. Eventually, the funeral home was cleaned out, and the dozens of cremated remains that were left behind were removed by the county coroner’s office.

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