Perdue campaign aide turns himself in following indictment

RALEIGH -- Peter Anthony Reichard, who served as Gov. Bev. Perdue's campaign finance director, turned himself in Tuesday at the Wake County Magistrate's Office on charges of obstructing justice.

Reichard, a top aide to Perdue's 2008 campaign, was one of three people indicted by a Wake County jury Monday. He is charged with scheming to pay a staff member $32,000 for work that was kept off the books.

The alleged ploy is in violation of state election laws.

Reichard, a 54-year-old Greensboro businessman, was released from custody on a $50,000 unsecured bond after his attorney talked with Wake County District Court Judge Ned Mangum.

The indictment against Reichard said his business, Tryon Capital Ventures, received $32,000 in contributions or loans from Charles Michael Fulenwider, a Perdue contributor from Morganton who owns fast-food restaurants and who had arranged campaign flights for Perdue. Reichard then disguised the $32,000 as consulting services paid to Julia Leigh Sitton, who later became director of the governor's western office in Asheville.

Sitton, 49, has been indicted for obstruction of justice and causing the Perdue campaign to file false reports.

New Bern attorney Trawick "Buzzy" Stubbs, a longtime law partner with Perdue's first husband, has also been indicted for obstructing justice and causing the filing of false campaign reports. The indictments against Stubbs say that he caused the Perdue campaign to file false reports that did not disclose about $28,000 in campaign flights.

Stubbs has been accused of reporting the flights as expenditures to the N.C. Democratic Party when he knew the flights benefited Perdue, according to the indictments.

Sitton and Stubs are expected to turn themselves in today, the Wake magistrate said.

Staff writer Dan Kane contributed to this report.