Ex-judge, SC lawmaker James "Tee" Ferguson dies

Former South Carolina House member and Circuit Court Judge James "Tee" Ferguson, who served prison time after an FBI investigation into Statehouse corruption, has died, his daughter said Sunday.

Ferguson, 60, died Friday in Virginia of natural causes, his daughter Stinson Ferguson said. She declined to give further details.

Ferguson was born in Kingsport, Tenn., and graduated from Wofford College and the University of South Carolina School of Law.

Ferguson was elected to the state House in 1982, served there for seven years, and then moved to the bench in 1990.

That same year, he was one of 28 people caught up in the FBI's Statehouse sting operation. He was accused of taking $3,000 from an FBI informant in 1989 in exchange for his vote on betting legislation.