Black gets more time to pay fine

RALEIGH — Disgraced former House Speaker Jim Black will get more time to pay his $1 million fine.

With a Monday deadline looming, an attorney for Black reached an agreement today with state prosecutors giving him until July 2008 to pay. Black has had difficulty selling real estate that would raise the money because potential buyers know he's under a deadline, according to a motion by Black's attorney Allen Powell.

The fine stems from Black's conviction on state corruption charges this year.

Black, a Democrat from Matthews, was convicted of offering a bribe and obstructing justice, both felonies. In July, Judge Donald Stephens of Wake Superior Court fined Black $1 million and held open the possibility of time in state prison if the fine were not paid by Dec. 10.

On Friday, Powell filed a promissory note with the Wake Clerk of Court secured by a deed of trust against property worth at least $1 million. In an order, Stephens accepted the delay and wrote that the property could be sold at foreclosure if needed.

The $1 million payment would go to the public schools in Wake County, where Black was convicted, in accordance with the N.C. Constitution. Black is serving in a federal prison in Pennsylvania on separate corruption charges related to illegal payments he accepted from campaign contributors, mostly in cash handed over in men's bathrooms. He is due to be released in 2012.

In February, Black pleaded guilty to the two state charges, though he maintained his innocence and told a friend he pleaded guilty only because\ of mounting legal fees. Prosecutors say Black offered a bribe to another lawmaker, Mike Decker of Forsyth County, to vote for him for speaker in 2003, and that he unlawfully filled in the blank payee lines on checks from campaign contributors.

Decker, a Republican who briefly switched parties to vote for Black for speaker, is in a federal prison in South Carolina.