Back In Black
News of felon and former NC House Speaker Jim Black stiffing school children by dodging full financial restitution stemming from a string of criminal corruption convictions shouldn’t come as any surprise. Ethics have never been the Democrat’s strong suit. Screwing the public and abusing power? That’s a different story entirely.
And folks should’ve seen this one coming down the pike. Black’s ploy to avoid paying a large chunk of the fine leveled as part of his sentencing was rooted out way back by former Carolina Journal/MeckDeck guerilla blogger Jeff Taylor:
In June of last year [2008], Black paid half of the fine, leaving $500,000 outstanding. [Wake County Superior Court Judge Donald W.] Stephens had initially set a Jan. 1 deadline for payment of that amount, but opted not to enforce it. The May agreement approved by Stephens leaves Black with at least $2 million in property in Mecklenburg County alone.
When paying the $500,000 fine last year, Black said, “I always intended to leave a portion of my estate to help secure the enhancement of North Carolina’s public educational system. And while this payment comes a bit premature, I gladly give it knowing that North Carolina’s children will be the beneficiaries.”
Unless the Wake County school system can find a buyer willing to pay at least $500,000 for land that has been undeveloped for 40 years, it will fail to receive the full amount it was due.
And, no shocker here, Wake County and the public got stiffed.
More to the point, and what should be grossly disturbing to anyone with more moral fortitude than a desert jackal, is that Black apparently has more than enough loot on hand to pay the balance of the fine.
In addition to the Tryon Street building, Black owns a residence in Matthews with a tax value of almost $500,000, a Central Avenue day-care center building, and several parcels of prime real estate in the commercial center of Matthews. These latter Matthews parcels together are valued at around $450,000. Many local real estate observers assumed Black would have to sell these holdings on Charles and John streets in Matthews to pay the balance of the fine.
Instead, Black has used nine acres of vacant land adjacent to a large Duke Energy easement to satisfy his debt to the state. No other Black-owned property has been transferred to Wake County apart from the Rice Road land, according to court records and a legal notice published in The Charlotte Business Journal.
The larger eight-acre parcel has a 2003 tax value of $117,000 and the adjacent one-acre parcel is valued at $31,000. A small ranch home on almost one acre next door sold for $97,500 in 2002, according to county records.
A 6.5-acre parcel across the street from the Matthews property now owned by the Wake County Board of Education was sold in 2002 for $37,500 to Rice Road LLC. State records indicate that Jim Black’s son is the registered agent and manager of Rice Road LLC.
At the time of his conviction Black also owned three lake properties in Iredell County valued at almost $2 million.
Unless Jailhouse Jim has torn through millions on legal fees or hoosegow canteen chits, one would expect a truly reformed felon, as Black professes of himself, to do the right thing and come clean for the balance owed. For the children.
So naturally, expect Black to do the exact opposite.
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