Former North Carolina State Senator Pleads Guilty

https://www.justice.gov/usao-mdnc/pr/former-north-carolina-state-senator-pleads-guilty

Department of Justice
U.S. Attorney’s Office
Middle District of North Carolina

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, February 17, 2017

Former North Carolina State Senator Pleads Guilty
Represented Cabarrus and Union Counties

Winston-Salem, N.C. – A former North Carolina State Senator pled guilty to federal fraud and tax charges today, announced Acting United States Attorney Sandra Hairston. Fletcher Lee Hartsell, Jr., who represented parts of Cabarrus and Union Counties as a State Senator from 1991 until 2016, pled guilty today before United States District Judge Thomas D. Schroeder to one count of mail fraud and two counts of filing false tax returns. According to court documents, Hartsell engaged in a scheme to defraud and to obtain money through false pretenses by soliciting funds through the mail for the Hartsell for NC State Senator Committee, using those funds for personal goods and services not authorized under state campaign finance laws, and then misrepresenting such expenditures on filed campaign disclosure reports. Hartsell further made knowing and willful false statements in federal income tax returns filed both in his personal capacity and on behalf of a corporation he co-managed.
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Hartsell faces a maximum penalty of 20 years confinement and a fine of up to $250,000.00. Sentencing is scheduled for May 16, 2017 in Winston-Salem.
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