As he awaits sentencing, former NCGOP Chair Robin Hayes gets a hand from an old foe

Twenty-four years after their bitter primary for North Carolina governor, former Charlotte Mayor Richard Vinroot has reached out to help his one-time adversary, former state GOP chairman and U.S. Rep. Robin Hayes.

Hayes is still awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty last October to lying to federal investigators in one of the state’s biggest political corruption scandals. He faces up to six months in prison. No sentencing date has been set.

Hayes’s plea came in a case involving businessman Greg Lindberg, who with an associate was found guilty by a federal jury in March of trying to bribe state Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey. They also have yet to be sentenced.

Vinroot joined more than a dozen others in offering testimonials to Hayes in letters to U.S. District Court Judge Max Cogburn Jr. In the letter, Vinroot said he met Hayes during their 1996 Republican primary for governor.

Read more: https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/politics-government/article244249377.html