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Assistant U.S. Attorney John Bruce said in court that Decker was having financial trouble in late 2002 when he and another Republican House member met with a Democratic House member in Salisbury. The other two lawmakers were not identified.

At a second meeting in Salisbury, Decker "offered to switch to the Democratic Party and support a certain Democratic member of the House for speaker in return for $50,000," Bruce said. "The Democratic member agreed and proposed that it be done with campaign checks."

Bruce said Decker was also promised a legislative staff position, which he gave to his son, Michael Jr. The job with the House Ways and Means Committee, which ended when the elder Decker left office, paid an annual $46,000 to Michael Decker Jr., the former state director of the N.C. Christian Coalition.

The older Decker announced his party switch on Jan. 24, 2003. A short time after, the unidentified Democratic House member gave Decker an envelope with $38,000 in checks and $12,000 in cash, Bruce said. Much came from people who had not given to Decker in previous elections, Bruce said.

Campaign finance reports show that some of that money went toward a used vehicle and a trip to Florida to retrieve it. At that time, legislators were allowed to tap campaign funds for personal use.

Decker switched back to the GOP in time for the 2004 primary, but he was trounced.

In February 2005, Black helped create and fund a job for Decker at the Department of Cultural Resources, using $45,000 from a reserve fund Black and other legislative leaders controlled. The temporary job ended in March.

Federal authorities said that Decker kept his campaign account open after the primary "in case there was a need to run some money through it."

Decker's campaign received a $4,000 check on Feb. 10, 2005, according to the plea agreement. He deposited it in the account, closed his campaign and pocketed the money, the court record said. Campaign records show the only $4,000 contribution he received at that time came from Black's campaign committee.

In response to Decker's spending, lawmakers this year prohibited candidates from using campaign money for personal expenses.

(Staff writers Andrea Weigl, Rob Christensen and Lynn Bonner contributed to this report.)

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