Ruffin Poole is charged with 51 criminal acts. Most of the charges stem from a handful of actions that prosecutors say violate multiple laws.
Poole faces potential long prison sentences and hefty fines. The charges and brief descriptions:
Extortion under color of official right: Poole is accused of taking money and free trips to Costa Rica and New Orleans from a Wilmington financier, known to be Lanny Wilson, a key supporter of former Gov. Mike Easley. In effect, the indictment says Poole used the power of his office to obtain the payments and inducements. Maximum penalty: 20 years and a fine of $250,000.
Bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds: Poole is accused of influencing permits within state environmental programs that received federal funds and accepting money and trips in exchange.
This involved developments in coastal areas. Two counts; maximum penalty of 10 years and a fine of $250,000 for each count.
Use of the mail in aid of racketeering: Poole is accused of being an investor in Cannonsgate and Summerhouse, two developments where prosecutors say he used his influence to speed permits. He is charged with 12 instances where his family's construction business received checks to repay his investments with interest. Maximum penalty: five years and a $250,000 fine for each count.
Scheme and artifice to deprive others of right of honest services through mail fraud: The same 12 payments from the racketeering charges are repeated in 12 more charges that Poole took the payments and hid them from the people of North Carolina. Maximum penalty: 20 years and a $250,000 fine for each count.
Money laundering: Poole is accused of trying to hide the money he received from his investments in Cannonsgate and Summerhouse by routing it through Poole Construction and then to himself. Fifteen charges; maximum penalty for each count of 20 years and a fine of $500,000 or twice the value of the payments, whichever is greater.
Monetary transactions in criminally derived property: This also involves the money that authorities say Poole received from Wilson; the nine charges stem from depositing the checks at Poole Construction and writing checks from Poole Construction to Ruffin Poole. Maximum penalty: 10 years and a $250,000 fine or twice the amount of the property in the transaction.
