Law Enforcement Associates, a Raleigh company with close ties to former Senate Majority Leader Tony Rand and former N.C. Department of Transportation Secretary Lyndo Tippett, reported Monday that sales and revenue declined in the first quarter while the company's mounting legal fees led to a 22 percent jump in operating expenses.

LEA reported first quarter net sales of $1.2 million, down from $1.8 million in the same quarter last year. The company had a net loss of $267,395, compared to a net loss of $97,218 in the same quarter last year.

LEA, which develops and manufactures electronic surveillance equipment, has been under scrutiny since two former executives told federal officials last fall that Rand, the company's chairman, had engaged in an insider trading scheme.

Last week, the DOT released a copy of a federal subpoena for Tippett that is part of the probe into the administration of former Gov. Mike Easley.

In the subpoena, prosecutors asked for documents and information about LEA. Tippett, a longtime LEA investor, joined the company's board last year.

Last week's annual shareholders meeting of Law Enforcement Associates was quite the Tippett family affair.

The meeting began with shareholders electing a board of directors that included State Sen. Tony Rand and W. Lyndo Tippett, a former N.C. secretary of transportation and good friend of Rand's.   

Although Lyndo Tippett wasn't present at the meeting, his son, Walter Tippett Jr., was.

Tippett Jr., a lawyer with the firm Ragsdale Liggett PLLC, was there representing Barbara Wortley, a woman who filed a lawsuit in September against LEA.

Law Enforcement Associates, a Raleigh company that sells surveillance and security equipment to the military and other customers, reported weaker third-quarter results.

Net sales fell to $1.9 million, down 21 percent from the same quarter last year. LEA's net loss was $99,000, compared to net income of $96,000 last year.

The company plans to introduce two new products during the current quarter, and has been "much more aggressive at leveraging the insight and professional connections" of its board to boost its business, said Alan Terry, in a prepared statement. Terry, who was named interim CEO in August, wasn't available for further comment.

LEA's board includes Senate Majority Leader Tony Rand, left, who recently announced he plans to step down from the Senate to become chairman of the state parole board. LEA shareholders are scheduled to vote next month to add former Department of Transportation secretary Lyndo Tippett to the board.

There’s still a buzz lingering from an extraordinary exit interview Lyndo Tippett gave last week after stepping down as Mike Easley’s state transportation secretary.

To hear Tippett tell it,

“DOT is in the best condition it has ever been in its 75-year history. Our improvements over the past eight years are manyfold.”

Really?

If you believe Tippett, it wasn’t DOT’s fault that North Carolina had to shell out $22.4 million to rip out 10 miles of bad concrete on I-40 in Durham County.

Tippett told WRAL-TV’s Bruce Mildwurf that the other big screwups weren’t DOT’s fault, either.

On the clogged interchange of I-540 at I-40 near Research Triangle Park, Tippett says ... [MORE]: