Tag: Stephen LaRoque

Former state Rep. LaRoque goes to trial in May on theft, tax fraud charges

April 18, 2013 at 12:43 pmCategory:Uncategorized

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Former N.C. state Rep. Stephen LaRoque will go to trial in May at the federal courthouse in Greenville on charges of stealing from two federally-funded economic development charities.

In a court order filed last week, U.S. Senior District Judge Malcolm J. Howard set a May 20 trial date for LaRoque, a former member of House leadership who resigned after his indictment last July on federal charges. Howard will preside over LaRoque’s jury trial.

Federal prosecutors believe LaRoque used public money from two economic development non-profits he ran for his own purposes, including buying replica Faberge eggs and diamond jewelry for his wife and a Greenville ice-skating rink run by family members. Read More…

LaRoque trial pushed to May

January 14, 2013 at 12:53 pmCategory:Uncategorized

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The federal trial of former state Rep. Stephen LaRoque on charges of money laundering and stealing federal funds has been pushed back to later this spring.

His trial is now scheduled for the week of May 14  in front of U.S. Senior District Judge Malcolm Howard, according to an order signed Friday by Malcolm. The previous trial date had been in February.

LaRoque

LaRoque

LaRoque, a Kinston Republican, was a state legislator in a prominent leadership role when he was indicted last July on eight counts of theft of government funds and money laundering. He resigned soon after the indictment was handed down by a Raleigh-based federal grand jury.

The federal investigation followed the publication in August 2011 of an N.C. Policy Watch investigation that found he received plush salaries, stacked the board of directors of the East Carolina Development Company and Piedmont Development Company with immediate family members and arranged loans of U.S Department of Agriculture money from his two non-profits to two other state lawmakers and other close associates.

The July indictment accuses LaRoque of using the non-profits to help fund a lavish lifestyle that included buying replica Faberge eggs for his wife, cars, a house for a step-daughters and a roller-skating rink for his family members.

A federal grand jury handed down four additional charges of fraud and tax evasion in December, and LaRoque’s defense attorney Joe Cheshire will need more time to go over new evidence, wrote Dennis Duffy, the assistant U.S. Attorney handling the case.

 

 

Continuance motion for Stephen LaRoque trial by ncpolicywatch

LaRoque trial may get pushed back

September 13, 2012 at 2:57 pmCategory:Uncategorized

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Both federal prosecutors and the attorney for former state Rep. Stephen LaRoque are asking to push back an October trial date on federal theft charges to February of next year.

In a joint motion filed on Thursday, assistant U.S. Attorney Dennis Duffy and Raleigh defense attorney Joe Cheshire cited the complexity of the charges filed against LaRoque in asking U.S Senior District Court Judge Malcolm Howard for the delay.

“If this case were ultimately to proceed to trial, the parties would need to present a significant amount of financial evidence and a relatively large number of witnesses,” Duffy wrote in the motion. “The parties intend to engage in a significant amount of discussions to reach stipulations and agree on the admissibility of summary exhibits in order to streamline the presentation of each side’s evidence.”

LaRoque, 49, of Kinston, was indicted by a Raleigh-based federal grand jury in July and

LaRoque

charged with four counts of stealing from a federally-funded program and four additional counts of conducting financial transactions with the money.

He faces up to 10 years in prison on each count.

LaRoque, who resigned from office following the indictment, has denied any wrongdoing in his management of East Carolina Development Company and Piedmont Development Company, the two small non-profits LaRoque ran.

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LaRoque replacement likely to offer quite a style contrast

September 4, 2012 at 2:41 pmCategory:Uncategorized

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A temporary replacement for former state lawmaker Stephen LaRoque was appointed last week and according to this story in the Kinston Free Press, she seems likely to offer quite a change in style, if not political ideology.  

“Kozel is the board chair for Eastern North Carolina Home Schoolers and is the director and co-founder of the Eastern N.C. Tea Party. She is a mother of 13 children and is married to Dr. William L. Kozel of Kinston.”

LaRoque’s voter suppression Hail Mary

August 15, 2012 at 3:14 pmCategory:Uncategorized

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Former state representative Stephen LaRoque appeared in federal court in Raleigh last week to face charges of theft and money laundering. Pending trial in Greenville at a later date LaRoque was released on an unsecured bond and restricted to travel within the 44 counties of the Eastern District of North Carolina. That has not stopped another case involving LaRoque from making it all the way to the Supreme Court in Washington DC. The spotlight will be on voter suppression, namely the constitutionality of the Voting Rights Act, not LaRoque, though LaRoque’s name and statements appear in documents submitted to the court, including statements referring to his status as a state legislator.
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