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Breaking News: State Rep. Stephen LaRoque indicted

Post on July 17, 2012 by Rob Schofield 22 Comments »

WRAL.com reports that State Rep. Stephen LaRoque of Lenoir County – a powerful member of House Speaker Thom Tillis’ leadership team and co-chair of the House Rules Committee — has been indicted by the federal government for stealing money from the federal program that he runs. Here is a link to the 72 page indictment.

The story of LaRoque’s questionable behavior was first broken by NC Policy Watch reporter Sarah Ovaska last summer. Here is a link to her extensive series “Public money, personal gains.”

NC Policy Watch will have more details on this story in the very near future and as they become available.

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Excerpts from the LaRoque indictment

Comments (Closed):22

gregflynn
July 17, 2012 at 5:11 pm
What’s the big deal with a state legislator buying eggs with USDA money?

They were Faberge eggs:

“Large Faberge blue enamel and dia egg. Egg opens with crown inside” $3798
“Large Faberge yellow enamel egg with a dia swirl in the center” $1092
“Lrg red enamel Faberge egg with gold frame on the outside. Diamonds go around the centerstyle” $2472
jlp75
July 17, 2012 at 5:17 pm
Frank? Frances? Alex? The silence is deafening.

And to think you had us believing only Democrats were crooks. I’m sure there is an explanation for all this. It must be taking you a while to fire up the spin machine today. We’re waiting.

Hey Thom, nice right hand man you got there.
jlp75
July 17, 2012 at 5:21 pm
Thom Tillis must be a terrible judge of character. Let’s take a minute to reflect on the people he’s chosen to surround himself with. Seems like one scandal after another. I guess since they have been out of power for 100+ years they needed to play catch up. You make Speaker Black so proud.
Rev. Carl Johnson
July 17, 2012 at 5:21 pm
Does this extend to those political campaigns and political favors he supported with these ill gotten gains?
HunterC
July 17, 2012 at 5:33 pm
Paging Rep. Mark Hilton and former Sen/Rep. Debbie Clary for comment…

Weren’t they given loans by LaRoque? And mentioned (not by name) in the indictments?
jlp75
July 17, 2012 at 7:41 pm
No worries, Dallas will be along shortly to clear this all up.
DW1
July 17, 2012 at 10:56 pm
Is that ALL the Tom Foolery goin on in KINSTON?
david esmay
July 18, 2012 at 8:42 am
Justice.
Alex
July 18, 2012 at 9:55 am
The real tragedy here is not a nimwit like LaRoque, but the stupid federal agency that kept giving him money with no oversight. Many of these agencies have veered far away from their original purpose, and now spend most of their time doling out taxpayer money for stupid projects. I saw yesterday where the USDA was awarding expensive police cruisers to a county that applied for some grant. Why in the world would the USDA be involved with giving out police vehicles ? This is why Washington is in such a mess !
david esmay
July 18, 2012 at 10:08 am
Deflection, thy name is Alex.
jlp75
July 18, 2012 at 10:15 am
Hey Stephen maybe you should just retroactively retire from your company before all this happened. Problem solved. That’s what Mitt would do.
Frank Burns
July 18, 2012 at 10:23 am
Except Mitt committed no crime, but served his country in an exemplary manner in taking charge of the Olympics in 1999. To compare this crime to Mitt Romney is a crime, but that’s what the left does.
jlp75
July 18, 2012 at 10:32 am
Way to spin it Frank. That isn’t what I did at all. It was a slam on a ridiculous statement made by Romney campaign staff. I in no way said that Mitt broke the law. Thanks for attempting to put words in my mouth. Perhaps that’s why no one here likes you. If you could state your opinion without twisting others words to suit your purposes maybe you would be better received even if your opinions differ.
James
July 18, 2012 at 12:09 pm
Rmoney’s “service” as the figurehead of the Olympics was a freaking disaster. Unprecedented cost overruns, outsourcing of uniforms to Burma, and a still-smouldering bribery scandal. Let’s face it, Frank, the only thing Mitt Rmoney has done effectively in his life is make a fortune on the backs of thousands of people he has screwed over. A vulture capitalist and con-artist in the purest sense of the words.
david esmay
July 18, 2012 at 12:49 pm
Mitt served his country by dodging the draft in France. The Olympics were saved by the taxpayers, like the auto industry bail out, Myth likes to take credit where none is due.
Frank Burns
July 18, 2012 at 1:25 pm
Wow, James and David drank the Obama Koolaid. The 2002 Olympics ended up with a profit after having a huge deficit, Romney donated $1 MM of his own funds to help and worked for a salary of $1. It was a success by any measure.

Now that has been settled, want to discuss the failures and ineptitude of Obama?
Alex
July 18, 2012 at 1:53 pm
The Obama misery index is rising just like the temperature, but David will never discuss it!
gregflynn
July 18, 2012 at 2:33 pm
The federal government spent $1.5 billion on the 2002 Winter Olympics.

Obama is not responsible for Stephen LaRoque buying Faberge eggs at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas.
david esmay
July 18, 2012 at 2:41 pm
http://www.barackobama.com/jobsrecord
david esmay
July 18, 2012 at 2:52 pm
The misery index belongs to Boehner and McConnell. Has it ever occurred to why no budget has been passed? With a budget, it takes a simple majority in the senate to pass a bill, no super majority, no filibuster, no cloture. GOP Hypocrisy 101.
http://www.gallup.com/poll/152528/congress-job-approval-new-low.aspx
david esmay
July 18, 2012 at 2:53 pm
Try focusing on Thom, Phil, and Stephen.
Mike
July 18, 2012 at 9:19 pm
Sarah did a GREAT job exposing LaRoque! Kudos to her.