This might not be a big national story, but it is a big deal here where I live in North Carolina. Former N.C. House Speaker Jim Black is resigning and pleading guilty to a felony charge.
RALEIGH, N.C. -- Former State House Speaker Jim Black will resign from office and plead guilty to a federal corruption charge, The Charlotte Observer reported Tuesday night.This one has been a long time in coming. Read the entire report for details and background. I expect there will be some comments on this at The Locker Room and The Meck Deck.
The newspaper said on its Web site that Black's attorney, Ken Bell, confirmed that Black will plead guilty on Thursday to one count of accepting illegal gratuities. The felony charge carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000."Since somebody is talking who shouldn't have and has leaked what's happened, I will confirm that Dr. Black will enter a guilty plea to accepting illegal gratuities in federal court on Thursday," Bell said.
Because state law bans felons from holding office, Black, a Democrat, will have to resign his seat in the House representing a suburban Charlotte district.
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North Carolina, Scandal
Comments (3)
Speaker Black is a corrupt ... (Below threshold)1. Posted by tom c | February 14, 2007 12:48 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Speaker Black is a corrupt official, and many will believe this closes the book on corruption in NC government. I think he may be the tip of the iceberg. His plea deal indicated he would be cooperating with federal investigators going forward. It will be interesting to see the great saddlebags of sweat breaking out under the arms of more Democrat lawmakers.
I hope he does jail time and pays big fines for his crimes. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.
1. Posted by tom c | February 14, 2007 12:48 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on February 14, 2007 12:48
2. Posted by P. Bunyan | February 14, 2007 4:15 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
d'ja ever notice how when a story like this is about a Republican the fact that the politician is a Republican is in the Headline or a least in the lead paragraph, but when it a democrat that little fact always seems to get buried further down in the story-- somewhere after the point where the author hopes average Joe has lost interest....
2. Posted by P. Bunyan | February 14, 2007 4:15 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on February 14, 2007 16:15
3. Posted by Lorie Byrd | February 14, 2007 4:20 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Funny that you would say that. I actually blocked the quote to copy it until I saw them identify him as a Democrat. As I scrolled down blocking the text, for a while there, I thought they weren't going to include the "D" word at all.
3. Posted by Lorie Byrd | February 14, 2007 4:20 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on February 14, 2007 16:20