RALEIGH, N.C. – Former Rep. Thomas Wright was found guilty of felony obstruction of justice Wednesday and sentenced to prison after his second conviction this year for political corruption.
The Wilmington Democrat was accused of preventing election officials from carrying out their duties as they investigated his failure to report $150,000 in campaign contributions over a seven-year period.
Wright, already serving roughly six to eight years in prison for fraud, was sentenced immediately Wednesday by Superior Court Judge Donald Stephens to between six and eight months in prison. He will serve the terms concurrently and isn’t expected to be released until 2015.
“I don’t think it’s the state’s intent to extend the time of his incarceration,” Wake County District Attorney Colon Willoughby told Stephens after jurors deliberated for about 2 1/2 hours over two days before reaching their verdict. The trial began Monday.
Defense attorney Douglas Harris acknowledged his client made mistakes on campaign disclosure forms but argued they didn’t warrant a felony obstruction charge. Harris gave notice of appeal, as he did earlier on the fraud conviction.
Wright didn’t present evidence during the hearing because, Harris said, prosecutors didn’t prove Wright’s actions met the standard for obstruction of justice.
“We have a situation here where they are making things a crime that are not a crime,” Harris said after sentencing.
Prosecutors argued that Wright intentionally impeded state elections officials in their efforts to enforce campaign finance rules, and harmed his constituents by failing to disclose how he spent campaign money and how much money in donations he received.
During the trial, prosecutors presented evidence showing Wright failed to report all of his campaign contributions between 2000 and 2007 and made it difficult for election investigators to learn about the money. Wright also transferred almost $77,000 from campaign bank accounts to his personal accounts or converted them into cash and didn’t disclose the transactions on his campaign reports, according to evidence.
Wright, 53, is already serving time in a Pamlico County prison after being convicted in April on charges he mishandled charity contributions and fraudulently obtained a $150,000 loan in part by getting a state official to write a bogus letter on his behalf while a legislator.
Less than three weeks earlier, he became the first sitting North Carolina legislator in 128 years to be expelled from office by his own colleagues, based on allegations stemming from the indictments.
Willoughby said it was important to prosecute the former eight-term legislator and one-time ally of ex-Speaker Jim Black because the campaign finance violations formed the basis of the initial complaint filed against Wright at the State Board of Elections in December 2006.
“I thought it was an egregious situation involving huge sums of money and that it ought to be addressed,” Willoughby said after court.
