Carter convicted for illegal campaign contributions

A Wilmington businessman has been convicted for violating three misdemeanor
campaign donations laws when he funneled money through his
employees to the governor and two state senators.

New Hanover County District Court Judge John J. Carroll on
Tuesday accepted the guilty plea from Rusty Carter, the owner of
the Atlantic Corp. packaging company.

Carter was fined $5,000 and sentenced to two years of
unsupervised probation. The fine was paid to the New Hanover County
Schools.

Carroll also banned Carter from making political donations for
two years.

Carter was charged with making illegal campaign contributions to
Gov. Beverly Perdue, state Senate leader Marc Basnight and state
Sen. Julia Boseman.

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WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — A Wilmington businessman is expected to plead guilty tomorrow after being accused of making illegal campaign contributions, according to sources close to the case. Atlantic Corp. owner Rusty Carter is accused of skirting campaign donation laws that limit individual contributions to $4,000, by funneling money through his employees.

Gov. Bev Perdue, state Senate leader Mark Basnight and state Sen. Julia Boseman were a few of the candidates on the receiving end of those contributions. The State Board of Elections investigated, and turned its report over to District Attorney Ben David.