Reading more material, back then is when Nifong was "negotiating" with defense attorneys on traffic tickets, but he had his bout with cancer at about the same time as the
scandal was uncovered. He took time off for recovery "to be with the family", but I have to wonder if he used that as an excuse to let the office "cool down" while the investigation was conducted.
I do know for a fact that traffic courts are corrupt in NC, as you can pay an attorney $450 to $500 and your major offense gets reduced to a "fix it" ticket. No questions asked. My theory is that the defense attorney, the DA, and the judge share the bounty.
Prior to the time he had cancer Nifong was first a Prosecutor and then an Assistant DA (mostly an administrative role). Upon his return from being sick he was put in traffic court because it was thought to be less demanding and would allow him to recover. He was elevated to DA by appointment out of traffic court just over a year ago.