Easley’s hometown reacts to plea deal

SOUTHPORT, NC (WWAY) — Before Mike Easley was Governor, he served two terms as state Attorney General and before that, he was District Attorney in Brunswick County. He has owned a home for years in Southport, where many residents say they have been fed up with Easley over the years.

Though Easley is considered a hometown boy in Southport, many residents feel they got no hometown support from him. Easley has been under state and federal investigation for two years, but many in Southport say they have known there was something a little fishy about him for a long time.

Southport resident Woody Wilson had issues with Easley in 2006, when the then-governor pushed to lease the state-owned Southport Marina to a private developer. Wilson says the taxpayers of North Carolina deserve for Easley to be held responsible for his actions.

“We don’t expect when the governor leaves the office that we’ve gotta go through two more years of hearing about his personal gains, profits, losses, all of that mess pulled together in such a manner that it’s basically despicable,” Wilson said.

It’s a change from the opinion many residents had of Easley when he was DA and helped crack down on drugs in Brunswick County. Folks we talked with in Southport today say they feel Easley’s plea deal amounts to little more than a slap on the wrist.