Food City’s $6 Million Payoff, Opioid Settlements, and Social Apartheid’s New Face in Southwest Virginia

By Lewis Loflin

I’m Lewis Loflin from Bristol, VA, and I’ve been ripping into the cronyism here for years because I see it plain as day—information’s damn near impossible to get with all the secrecy. My website, Sullivan-County.com, gave them hell, exposing scams like K-VA-T Food Stores, Inc.’s $6 million taxpayer handout in 2011. I protested it—called it a payoff—and watched them lock down employment stats 10–15 years ago when I got too loud. Around here, only businesspeople and doctors make real money, isolated from the rest of us—what I call “social apartheid.” Now it’s worse: they view economic development as bringing wealthy outsiders, and one realtor admitted they’re shoving low-income folks out as property prices skyrocket. Outsiders buy up everything, lured by the Appalachian and Creeper Trails, leaving us with low-end service jobs. It’s a new twist on the same old divide.

The $6 Million Secret Payoff

In 2011, K-VA-T—Food City’s parent—nabbed $6 million from the Virginia Tobacco Region Revitalization Commission and local taxpayers in Washington County and Abingdon to move their HQ across town to the old Johnston Memorial Hospital site. That’s $3 million from the Tobacco Commission and $3 million in local perks, including a custom $650,000 tax credit over 15 years. They had to spend $20 million on the building and keep 375 existing jobs, payroll over $4 million quarterly—no new jobs, just a shuffle that bent Tobacco Commission rules.

It was all hush-hush—no public voice, no records. I heard they got the hospital site cheap after its $175 million move to I-81, but secrecy hides the truth. The Bristol Herald Courier, December 28, 2011, pegged it at $6 million, with that tax break screaming cronyism. I called it “corporate welfare” on my site—a payoff to keep K-VA-T from skipping town. They opened a 62,000+ square foot HQ at 151 Cook Street in 2019, but new jobs? Zilch. Politicians pushed “jobs saved” or “new jobs”—a flat-out lie. Tobacco Commission reports show no rise past 375. I protested because I saw the scam through the shadows.

Opioid Settlements: $53 Million Hush Money

K-VA-T’s secrecy runs deeper—they settled two opioid cases for $53 million, no convictions, just cash to quiet it. In December 2024, they paid $8.5 million in a federal False Claims Act case. The U.S. said 24 Food City pharmacies, 2011–2018, dispensed opioids and controlled substances—unneeded, shady, or without valid scripts—billing federal healthcare with false claims. A whistleblower suit from K-VA-T Litigation Partnership, LLP, started it. No guilt admitted; they settled.

In 2021, Tennessee AG Herbert Slatery III sued K-VA-T and Food City Supermarkets, LLC, in state court, claiming they sold tens of millions of opioids over a decade, feeding the epidemic—breaking consumer protection and nuisance laws. K-VA-T claimed compliance. By September 2023, they settled for $44.5 million, funding recovery programs and jobs for recovering Tennesseans. No guilty verdict, just a payout. Details? Buried—the feds, state, and K-VA-T keep it locked down.

Social Apartheid: The Elite vs. Us

Here’s the real kicker: I know nobody in Washington County making big money except businesspeople and doctors—they’re isolated from the rest of us, living in a bubble. BLS says $1,200/week average in 2024, but that’s a lie averaging doctors with Burger King workers. Virginia Works pegs Region 1’s median household income at $40,123 (2023), but per-job reality? Hidden. Nobody I know pulls that—service jobs dominate, and the elite stay apart. That’s social apartheid: a divide where the haves thrive, and we’re left behind.

Now they’ve flipped “economic development” into bringing wealthy outsiders. A realtor told me straight—they’re shoving low-income residents out as property prices skyrocket. Outsiders, drawn by the Appalachian and Creeper Trails, buy up everything in sight—land, homes, you name it. What’s left for us? Low-end service jobs—waiters, cashiers, trail guides—while the elite cash in. It’s not growth; it’s displacement, widening the apartheid I’ve been calling out for years.

The Data Lockdown I Sparked

I used to get employment stats—county-by-county, city-by-city—from the Virginia Employment Commission and BLS. Real numbers to bust their “average pay” bullshit. Then, 2010–2015, they blocked it. That was me—I caused them hell with my website, showing stagnation—like K-VA-T’s “375 jobs saved” being the same old gigs—while they peddled “prosperity.” BLS’s QCEW skips small counties like Grayson ($756/week) for “privacy,” and VEC stonewalls with “internal only” under Virginia Code § 40.1-49.13. I’d demand breakdowns; they’d refuse me. My spotlight forced them to hide the stats, protecting their social apartheid lie.

Cronyism’s Secret Takeover

K-VA-T’s $6 million is a symptom—BVU-Optinet’s worse, with $100–$200 million in public funds for fiber optics sold off cheap, some jailed, no gain for us. Politicians call it “revitalization”—I call it a lie. K-VA-T moved a building, cashed in, and likely flexed a relocation threat. The $53 million opioid payouts? Hush money, no justice. Bristol and Abingdon taxpayers fund this, while wealthy outsiders and isolated elites reap the rewards, displacing us with service-job scraps.

Secrecy’s their tool—information’s scarce because they don’t want us seeing the takeover. I fought the K-VA-T deal because it’s social apartheid in action: no new jobs, just a payoff for the haves. My website shook them enough to lock down the data, but I’m still digging. Next scam’s coming—I’m watching.