Modified Wed, Nov 04, 2009 06:49 AM
Wright's conviction is upheld
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close xRALEIGH -- The N.C. Court of Appeals has upheld the conviction of former state Rep. Thomas E. Wright on three felony counts of obtaining property by false pretenses for taking out a fraudulent bank loan and depositing contributions intended for charity into his personal bank account.
Wright, a Democrat from Wilmington, was sentenced in April 2008 to more than seven years in prison. Earlier, he was kicked out of the N.C. House by his peers for ethical violations, becoming the first legislator to suffer that fate since 1880.
In his appeal, Wright, 54, argued the trial judge erred by denying him a motion to delay his court date, by allowing the deputy director of the state Board of Elections to testify about campaign finance violations and in the instructions given to the jurors who convicted him.
The appeals panel ruled Tuesday that Wright's complaints were without merit and that he "received a fair trial, free from error."
Wright is serving his sentence at Pamlico Correctional Institution.
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