NC State Bar issues complaint against Easley

By GARY D. ROBERTSON
Associated Press

RALEIGH, NC (AP) — The North Carolina State Bar has filed a formal disciplinary complaint against former Gov. Mike Easley after he was convicted last year on a campaign finance-related felony.

The governing body for the state’s lawyers issued the complaint Wednesday, nearly a year after the two-term Democratic governor agreed to have his license suspended while the bar reviewed his case. The bar’s complaint said the felony violation “shows professional unfitness” as defined in the bar’s administrative code.

The complaint could lead to a trial before a three-member bar panel, which could determine whether Easley broke bar rules and, if so, what kind of punishment he should receive.

Easley accepted criminal responsibility in court in November 2010 for failing to disclose a helicopter flight he took in 2006.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)