A member of the state Board of Elections says that former Gov. Mike Easley should pay an outstanding $94,665 fine as a condition of getting his law license back.

Chuck Winfree, a member of the elections board since 2001, said the reasoning behind a deal struck by the N.C. State Bar to settle an investigation of Easley and grant him a two-year law license suspension is inadequate as long as the fine is unpaid. Easley, a Democrat, is the former two-term governor who was the subject of state and federal investigations that resulted in a plea deal in 2010 and a felony conviction.

The bar last week consented in an agreement with Easley to a punishment that is less than disbarment and it said was warranted for six reasons, one of them being that "Easley accepts personal responsibility for his own actions and for the actions of his campaign committee."

Winfree said it is "lip service" to conclude Easley took responsibility for the campaign as long as the fine is unpaid.

"The State Bar needs to make payment a condition," Winfree said in an interview. "Otherwise, it's all window dressing."

Attempts to reach board chairman Larry Leake were unsuccessful. Winfree said he is working to see if the full elections board will make a formal request of the N.C. State Bar about the issue.

"I can certainly say that the board wants its fines paid," Winfree said.

The elections board is a state agency that oversees elections and enforces election law.

The bar is a state agency that regulates lawyers.

The elections board is appointed by the governor on the recommendation of the two major political parties. The majority is from the party of the governor. Currently, the elections board is made up of three members and has two vacant seats.

Winfree is the lone Republican on the board at the moment. He is also a lawyer.

He noted that the board's decision to fine Easley's campaign, made in late 2009, was unanimous. There has been discussion in recent years of legislation to hold candidates personally responsible for the misdeeds of their campaigns, but it has not advanced.

The fine against Easley's campaign was for $100,000 and it was tied to free flights Easley had taken while he was a candidate. Officials say $5,335 has been paid.

In reaching a decision last week to suspend Easley's law license for two years despite his conviction in 2010 of a felony, the bar said that Easley did not have "actual knowledge" of a false campaign report that led to the felony.

The bar also said that Easley is "genuinely remorseful." Easley did not appear at the hearing dealing with his law license. His lawyer told disciplinary hearing commissioners that the former two-term governor had accepted responsibility for the campaign by entering an Alford guilty plea tied to a single flight that wasn't reported. That type of plea allows a defendant to continue to assert innocence but legally acknowledges there was enough evidence to yield a conviction.

The disciplinary hearing commission chairwoman, lawyer Sharon B. Alexander of Hendersonville, said that commissioners would not comment on the decision making because their deliberations are considered private.

"I cannot and will not disregard our obligation to respect that privacy," Alexander wrote in an email message. "Please accept this as a response from all members of the hearing committee and the only one that you will receive."

-- J. Andrew Curliss

By J. Andrew Curliss, staff writer

The N.C. State Bar will revisit the disciplinary order that suspended for two years the law license of former Gov. Mike Easley -- a punishment that allows the former two-term Democrat to practice law again in December 2012.

The punishment order contains incorrect information, the bar's general counsel confirmed in an email message after a report Saturday in The News & Observer.

It is not clear if the overall thrust of the decision to suspend Easley's license for two years will change because of the erroneous information, which described the reasoning for why Easley was receiving the level of punishment he did.

The N&O report showed that the disciplinary order entered in Easley's case was not correct about factors the order says "particularly warrant" the suspension of Easley's law license instead of a disbarment, which is the full loss of the right to practice law.

Typically, according to the bar, a felony conviction of a lawyer leads to the "most severe discipline," which the bar says is "often disbarment."

Easley was convicted of a felony in Nov. 2010 after reaching a plea deal to end lengthy state and federal investigations of him. Easley entered what's known as an Alford guilty plea in state court, which means he can maintain innocence, but pleads guilty and agrees there was sufficient evidence for a judge or jury to find him guilty of the crime.

Easley's conviction was tied to the filing by his campaign of a false disclosure report that was in violation of six state laws because the report did not disclose a $1,600 helicopter flight Easley took in Oct. 2006. Easley was fined $1,000 for the low-level felony.

While the plea ended the criminal investigations, the state bar also looked into the case because it is the state agency responsible for regulating and disciplining lawyers in North Carolina. Easley, a former state attorney general, has been a lawyer since 1976 and was subject to professional discipline because of the felony, the bar said.

The bar ended its probe last month by filing a complaint that said Easley showed "professional unfitness" as a lawyer. A hearing was set for Friday. As the hearing began, the sides announced the agreement to the two-year suspension.

Factors 'warrant' lesser discipline

The written order that outlines the suspension, which was accepted by the bar's Disciplinary Hearing Commission, listed six factors "that particularly warrant lesser discipline" than the loss of Easley's law license.

According to the agreement, the factors pointing to lesser discipline are:

1. There is "no evidence" that Easley had "actual knowledge" of the content of the campaign finance report that led to his felony conviction.

2. Easley's "denial of such knowledge is credible" because he did not sign the report and because "when the report was prepared and filed he was Governor and was involved in governing the State."

3. The felony of which Easley was convicted is "the lowest level felony under North Carolina law."

4. Easley accepts "personal responsibility for his own actions and for the actions of his campaign committee."

5. There is "no evidence of dishonest conduct or dishonest motive."

6. Easley is "genuinely remorseful."

But there are questions about at least three of those factors.

The felony report's content

It is not clear why the bar's agreement says that there is no evidence Easley had knowledge of the content of the finance report.

The campaign report that led to Easley's felony conviction was filed by his campaign amid growing questions after reports in The N&O in early 2009 showed that a vehicle driven by Easley's son was not owned by the Easley family.

The vehicle was owned by a car dealer and Easley friend, Robert Bleecker.

Easley had offered differing explanations about the arrangement.

But then, on April 17, 2009, the campaign disclosed for the first time that the vehicle was, according to the new campaign filing, a campaign vehicle for some period of time.

A lawyer for the campaign, John Wallace, wrote to elections officials that day and said the campaign had "determined" what happened with the vehicle issue. The campaign acknowledged the vehicle had not been paid for, and made a series of disclosure filings to amend past reports to reflect that. The campaign then settled up the past unpaid charges.

Easley was asked about that in a hearing at the end of 2009.

Easley testified that he was personally involved in fixing the problem, and that he went to two staffers to help clear it up. They told him there hadn't been payments made on the vehicle, Easley testified.

"That's what got me looking at this and very concerned about it," Easley testified to elections board members. "I then inquired of John Wallace, and he confirmed that there had been no payments made."

Easley said the work then started to clear it up.

"When we ran into the problem with (the vehicle) not having been paid ... our election committee attorney, John Wallace, and Rick Gammon got with Bob Bleecker's attorney, and to my understanding they were able to figure out what needed to be done to make sure that he was properly paid," Easley testified.

Gammon is a lawyer who worked closely with Easley.

While the April 17 filing and a payment to Bleecker cleared up the car issue, the campaign report wasn't all truthful, according to prosecutors.

That's because the campaign failed to also disclose Easley's 2006 helicopter flight -- the second such disclosure report to fail to do so. In all, dozens of flights were not reported by the campaign, according to one of Easley's friends who flew him, McQueen Campbell of Raleigh.

A criminal information document filed by special state prosecutor William Kenerly of Rowan County said that Easley "caused" the false report to be filed by the campaign on April 17, 2009, and that Easley "knew the amended report was not true and correct."

Easley's denial 'credible'

The bar's agreement with Easley says the former governor's denial of any knowledge about that report is credible because he didn't sign it and because he was governing at the time.

But Easley was not governing the state in April 2009. That is four months after Easley left office. 

It is correct that Easley did not sign the report in question.

The disclosure form was signed by Easley campaign treasurer Joseph A. Newsome. The campaign report form includes a required paragraph that specifies the disclosure report is certified as "true and correct."

However, Newsome added a phrase to that in his own handwriting, saying the form was correct "to the best of my knowledge. JAN."

Newsome did not write that same qualifying language on previous, regular disclosures.

Newsome could not be reached.

Taking responsibility

Easley also has come under criticism for not paying a $100,000 fine issued against his campaign, tied to free flights he received.

Easley said in court at the time of his plea deal that, "The buck has to stop somewhere. It stops with me, and I take responsibility for what has occurred in this incident."

Kenerly, a veteran Republican prosecutor who retired after the Easley case, said after the conviction that paying the campaign fine in full would be the "honorable thing for him to do."

Bob Hall, executive director of the campaign finance watchdog Democracy North Carolina, said at the time and again on Sunday in an interview that it was good when Easley said that in court. Hall and others noted that state law does not hold candidates responsible for their campaign's misdeeds. A number of fines remain unpaid.

Easley's committee has paid $5,335 toward the fine, according to elections officials, but ran out of money and incurred more than $200,000 in debts, mostly on lawyers.

"I don't understand how they could say he's taken responsibility for the campaign when the fine isn't paid," Hall said. "How could anyone say that?"

Elections officials said Friday that the unpaid amount remains about $94,700. Payments benefit schools.

The bar confirms errors

Katherine Jean, the general counsel at the state bar, acknowledged the incorrect information but did not indicate that it would lead to a substantial change. She said she will bring it to the attention of the Disciplinary Hearing Commission. Its chairwoman is Sharon B. Alexander, who presided over the Easley hearing on Friday.

Jean wrote in an email message: "I ... agree that there is language in the order that does not accurately reflect what was intended.  The order inadvertently fails to identify the distinction in the time periods when the defendant was Governor and when the different reports were filed.  I will bring this issue to the attention of the DHC and request that the order be clarified.  Thank you for pointing this out.  I certainly want to make sure the order accurately reflects what was intended."

At the hearing on Friday, Jean had said that she researched past cases in also trying to decide the extent of Easley's punishment.

Jean said that lawyers who were convicted of felonies for drug abuse or for improper federal tax filings had also received punishments less than disbarment. Those reasons were not listed in the written order.

The Wake County Democratic Party launched a new website today as part of its efforts to win school board and municipal races this fall.

In a press release today, party officials say MovingWakeForward.com "is aimed at providing the latest information for voters, activists and media who are interested in learning more about the 2011 election."

The website is also described "as the home for leaders in Wake County, and North Carolina, to speak out on the issues that matter to them ahead of October 11 and November 8." In this case, the first two posts up attack the Republican majority on the Wake County school board.

News today of the resignation of the U.S. Attorney in Raleigh, George Holding, has received some national attention because of the connections to the John Edwards case.

One of the national sites goofed in a way we think would bring a few chuckles around here. (And, yes, we all make mistakes.)

The Huffington Post headline:

"Mike Easley Resigning:

John Edwards Investigation Prosecutor

Quitting After Indictment"

The HuffPost also included three photos of Easley, the former North Carolina governor, with its story.

The article itself was an AP version that accurately reported that George Holding is the federal prosecutor who is stepping aside.

Easley, of course, was a target of Holding.

Easley pleaded guilty to a felony in state court as part of plea deal last year that ended the federal probe of his behavior.

By federal sentencing standards, Ruffin Poole caught a break Tuesday when U.S. District Judge Terrence Boyle gave him a one-year prison term for hiding $55,000 in profits he reaped as part of insider deals that allowed him to benefit from his position as a top aide to former Gov. Mike Easley.

The sentence was one day above the minimum for a crime that Poole admitted committing in order to get more than 50 other charges dropped, and spared him at least another six months in prison. The penalty could have been harsher still if Boyle decided to treat the income tax evasion as a bribery case.

But when it came time to exit the federal courthouse, some of the roughly 30 supporters, nearly all of them in suits and ties, acted as if Poole were the victim of a kangaroo court. They formed a wedge in front of Poole and his wife, pushing and grabbing reporters and cameramen who sought to interview him as the couple made their way to a waiting SUV.

U.S. Attorney George Holding said he's seen better behavior from the families and supporters of violent criminals sentenced to much stiffer prison terms.

"In 10 years here I've never seen behavior like that," Holding said.

As expected, former Gov. Mike Easley's license to practice law has been suspended on an interim basis due to his felony conviction in a state court.

Easley's legal team has said he will fight to try and get the license back.

The N.C. State Bar, according to the interim suspension order issued last week, "will file a formal complaint against [Easley] alleging he has violated the Rules of Professional Conduct based upon his felony conviction and the conduct on which the conviction was based."

The State Bar could seek a disbarment, a suspension or take other action, such as a censure or sending a private letter. The process for Easley is just beginning, and parts of the case could become public. The suspension order says it is unknown at this time whether professional discipline will be imposed on Easley.

State Bar lawyers are not limited by the facts of the criminal plea deal, but can look beyond that in reaching decisions about discipline. In past cases, the State Bar has had access to law enforcement files as part of reaching discipline decisions.

At this stage of the Easley matter, the State Bar's officials cannot comment on his case specifically.

The State Bar's role in disciplining a lawyer is not to punish the person, but to protect the public from someone in the practice of law who has violated conduct rules.

Easley, a former two-term attorney general who served two terms as governor, has had a law license in North Carolina since 1976.

After leaving the governor's office, he was employed at the McGuireWoods law firm in Raleigh. But he left the firm this year as state and federal investigations into a range of Easley's actions continued.

-- J. Andrew Curliss

N.C. State University has narrowed its list of candidates for job of provost to three people, including the current interim provost, Warwick Arden.

Arden is the dean of the NCSU’s highly-regarded College of Veterinary Medicine.

The provost is the university's loftiest academic job.

The other candidates are Robert T. McGrath who has held several positions at Battelle Memorial Institute and Cathryn R. Newton a professor of interdisciplinary sciences, professor of earth sciences, and dean emerita at Syracuse University.

Battelle is a private, non-profit science and technology company based in Columbus, Ohio.

The job has been vacant since Larry Nielsen stepped down in 2009 as part of a wave of resignations during a scandal over allegations of improper influence related to former state First Lady Mary Easley’s job at the university.

A committee of faculty, staff and students began work this summer on the search. More information on the candidates and interview schedule while each is on campus is available at:  www.ncsu.edu/provostsearch/.

Here are the thumbnail profiles of each candidate that were included in the unviveristy's official news release, topped by the dates of their formal campus visits.

Robert T. McGrath, Nov. 8-10

Since 2008, McGrath has served in various roles with Battelle Memorial Institute and its affiliates, managing national laboratory acquisition, operations and university partnerships. From 2004 to 2008, he served as senior vice president for research, professor of materials science engineering, and professor of physics at Ohio State University.  Prior to 2004, McGrath was associate vice president for research, director of strategic and interdisciplinary initiatives, and professor of engineering science at Penn State University.  He received his Ph.D. in nuclear science and engineering from the University of Michigan and holds an M.A. in mathematics, M.S. in physics, and B.S. in engineering sciences from Penn State.

 Warwick A. Arden, Nov. 10-12

Arden has served as interim provost and executive vice chancellor at NC State University since May 2009, following five years as dean of N.C. State’s College of Veterinary Medicine and professor of clinical sciences.  Prior to joining NC State, Arden served as professor and head of the department of veterinary clinical medicine at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.  He held prior academic appointments at the University of Kentucky, Michigan State University, and the University of Sydney.  He received his Ph.D. in physiology and biophysics from the University of Kentucky, an M.S. in physiology from Michigan State University, and B.V.Sc. in veterinary medicine from the University of Sydney.  Arden recently served as president of the Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges.

Cathryn R. Newton, Nov. 17-19

Newton is currently professor of interdisciplinary sciences, professor of earth sciences, and dean emerita at Syracuse University.  Between 2000 and 2008, she led Syracuse University’s largest college, the College of Arts and Sciences.  Previously, she was Jessie Page Heroy Professor of Geology and chair of the department of earth sciences from 1993 to 2000, and co-founding director of the Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) at Syracuse from 1997-2001.  Newton earned a Ph.D. in earth sciences from the University of California, Santa Cruz, an M.S. in geology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a B.A. in geology from Duke University.

A four-year term expires today for the top federal prosecutor in the eastern part of North Carolina.

But George E.B. Holding, whose office is overseeing investigations that involve former Gov. Mike Easley and former Sen. John Edwards, is likely to remain on the job for a while longer.

How long isn't clear.

Former Gov. Mike Easley is on an indefinite leave of absence from the McGuireWoods law firm, which hired him as a partner last year.

Easley is part of state and federal investigations that are ongoing. A lawyer for Easley said he had no comment.

The state prosecutor who is handling a case of possible wrongdoing by former Gov. Mike Easley and others says he is "pursuing new avenues" in the matter.

Rowan County District Attorney Bill Kenerly said in an interview today that no decisions will be made in the state case until after July 4th.

"I'm absolutely certain of that," he said.

Separately, federal prosecutors have convened a grand jury that has been probing questions that surround Easley.

State elections officials last year found that Easley violated state elections law following a five-day hearing. They referred the case to a state prosecutor for review because they said evidence from the hearing suggested other state laws were broken.

Kenerly, a Republican who will leave office at the end of this year, recently started an in-depth review of the case.

Kenerly said his review includes a report that elections officials provided to his office and other information that arose out of the state elections review.

"And I'm pursuing new avenues," he said, declining to elaborate.

Easley, a Democrat who was governor from 2001 to 2009, has said he is comfortable with officials reviewing his years of service. Easley denied wrongdoing during the elections hearing. Easley has hired a criminal defense lawyer.

Included in the referral from the state hearing was testimony that Easley avoided paying for about $11,000 in repairs on his home in Raleigh by having his campaign pay for the house work — payments that he did not accurately report on campaign finance disclosure forms. Easley then also accepted a $5,000 insurance check on the repairs, which were paid for by friend McQueen Campbell.

After talking to Easley, according to testimony at the hearing, Campbell billed the Easley campaign for the home repairs. Campbell was reimbursed from campaign donations for his out-of-pocket costs to fix the home and clean it up and received some additional, unspecified profit.

— J. Andrew Curliss