ANDERSON — Anderson County’s former Administrator Joey Preston was charged with driving under the influence on Thursday night, according to an Anderson County Sheriff’s Office incident report.

Preston, well known for his controversy surrounding county politics, left the county at the end of 2008 after receiving a $1.14 million severance package and a GMC Yukon.

The incident report said he was driving a GMC Yukon and was pulled over for “failure to maintain lane of travel” at about 11 p.m. Thursday on Highway 24 at O'Neal Ferry Road in Anderson.

The deputy wrote in the report that he was able to immediately smell the odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from the GMC Yukon.

When the deputy asked Preston how much he had to drink, the former county administrator said, “Nothing but one glass of red wine,” according to the report.

The deputy then asked Preston to step out of the vehicle, and then asked him again how much he had to drink.

This time, the alleged answer was: “I have only had three glasses of red wine,” according to the report.

Preston then complied with several field sobriety tests, according to the report.

Anderson County recently finished an investigation regarding the county’s past finances, and much of the investigation was about Preston and the way he handled the county finances.

The Anderson County Solicitor’s Office has stated that it was unable to tell if there should be any criminal charges filed against him, and the case has now been taken before a state grand jury.