"Lt. Tony Robinson receives Billy Wilkins Award"

The Pickens Sentinel reports on the 2011 Billy Wilkins Award for Excellence in Law Enforcement, which was awarded to Lt. Tony Robinson of the Pickens County Sheriff’s Office on November 17th and to Investigator Mark Perry of the Greenville County Sheriff’s Office.

The award is named in honor of Nexsen Pruet attorney Billy Wilkins, who served as Thirteenth Circuit Solicitor before President Ronald Reagan appointed him to the U.S. District Court for South Carolina in 1981.  Wilkins went on to become Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and Chair of the United States Sentencing Commission before returning to private practice in 2008.

In presenting the award, Wilkins said:

"Lt. Robinson has been involved in just about every major case in Pickens County over the last 20 years.  Just last month, Lt. Robinson was on vacation visiting with his daughter and his brand-new grandchild, when he was called to respond to a quadruple murder in Liberty.  He put his vacation plans aside and immediately responded, and he spent numerous hours investigating this case.”

The current Thirteenth Circuit Solicitor is Walt Wilkins, Billy Wilkins' son. He told attendees that award recognizes officers with "outstanding attributes in the performance of his of her duties both in the field as well as in the courtroom.” 

Read more from The Pickens Sentinel.

The career of  William W. “Billy” Wilkins spans more than four decades, and includes extensive service to his state, country and the legal profession. He leads Nexsen Pruet’s White-Collar Crime, Appellate Advocacy and Corporate Compliance/Crisis Management practices and also serves clients through work with the firm’s Business Litigation Group.