But, Easley's biggest problems could be waiting in federal court where legal experts say it's looking more and more likely that he will be indicted be a grand jury.
"I think the likelihood that the Governor faces federal indictment is very high," offered former federal prosecutor Kieran Shanahan.
Many believe a politician can escape a corruption charge as long as there is no bribe, no money or gift exchanged for a political favor.
"Well, that would be wrong," said Shanahan.
In fact, elected officials can break federal law simply by accepting a benefit and intentionally hiding it from the public. The charge would be honest service fraud.
"More people go to prison every year because of a violation of honest services law than bribery and extortion combined," former FBI agent Frank Perry explained.
Kevin Geddings, a former state lottery commissioner, is now in federal prison for honest service fraud. Geddings simply failed to report past income from lottery vendors on a state ethics form.
"When you weigh the Geddings type prosecution against the former sitting Governor ... It's likely that a federal prosecution will ensue," said Shanahan.
For Easley, there are allegations of a free car for his son, free plane rides for himself, a free golf club membership, a sweet-heart real estate deal, even a bogus flight invoice typed up to hide his campaign paying for his personal home repairs.
Easley has denied some of the charges - including that he told former associate McQueen Campbell to fake flight invoices.
"It never, ever happened," he told the elections board.
"This seems to be a bunch of petty, self-inflicted, silly to the point of stupid actions," said Shanahan.
But added up in federal court, the troubles for Easley may be just getting started.
Send pictures | Classifieds | Report A Typo |
Send Tip |
Get Alerts
Most Popular | Follow abc11 on Twitter | abc11 on Facebook
