Gov. Pleasley And Other Sourced Bombshells; UPDATE – $1,000 Wrist Slap
The former governor gets a bad joke of a fine; the citizens of North Carolina get a giant one up the –
This from WRAL:
Former Gov. Mike Easley pleaded guilty Tuesday to a single campaign finance violation as part of a deal to end long-running state and federal investigations into his dealings with friends and contributors while in office.
Easley entered an Alford plea to certifying a false campaign finance report, which is a felony offense. He was fined $1,000 and ordered to provide a DNA sample as a convicted felon, but he avoided any prison time.
In an Alford plea, a defendant pleads guilty, while maintaining his or her innocence, and admits it is in his or her best interest to take the plea deal because there is sufficient evidence that could find him or her guilty.
Easley apologized for the erroneous financial reports, and he took responsibility for them.
“Our campaigns, over the years, have made errors – financial errors, contributions, expenditures. We’ve tried to correct them when we could,” he said. “As the candidate, I have to take responsibility for what the campaign does. The buck has to stop somewhere. It stops with me.”
Responsibility and Easley are two words that should never be used in the same sentence.
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Disgraceful and rotten to the core. Multiple sources are reporting that former Gov. Mike Easley will cop a deal today and walk without any active prison time. This from the Raleigh N&O:
The plea to a felony would be entered in state court. As part of the deal, a wide-ranging federal investigation that has stretched for nearly two years would end without any charges, the sources said.
If today’s hearing leads to a conviction, Easley would be the first governor in North Carolina’s history to be convicted in court of a crime related to his official service.
“It’s unprecedented,” said William Price, a retired history professor at Meredith College in Raleigh.
Gov. William Woods Holden was impeached, convicted and removed from office by state lawmakers in 1871 on several civil liberties charges for attempting to suppress Ku Klux Klan activities.
Under sentencing guidelines, Easley is unlikely to receive an active prison sentence. He would face a possible fine. And he could also lose his license to practice law.
Meanwhile, on the Mecklenburg County homefront, District Attorney Peter Gilchrist lays as his swan song the baffling decision to fire high-profile prosecutor Martha Goodenow, last seen leading the successful prosecution of convicted cop-killer Demeatrius Montgomery.
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