Your R.C. Soles Update

JLF - Squall Lines ^ | October 9, 2009 | John Hood

[MitchellC]

Breaking News: Sen. R.C. Soles or his neighbors have placed dozens of calls to local law enforcement in recent years in response to arguments or altercations with young men at his law office or home.

Okay, so maybe that’s not really news to local folks who’ve been following the Soles saga for months now, but the Raleigh News & Observer has a new story today that fills in some intriguing details. For example, through his attorney, Soles is playing the victim:

“Those young men have, in essence, been terrorizing him for years,” said Joe Cheshire, Soles’ defense attorney. “He has been having to seek the assistance of the authorities to try to keep them away from him. That’s what the truth is.”

Second, while reporters have already reported on Soles’ frequent calls directly to particular law enforcement offices, the new N&O story focuses on 911 calls by neighbors:

The senator typically does not call 911 when there is trouble, including when he shot Blackburn. Chief Dowless said Soles has his cell phone number, as well as those of several Tabor City officers, and that he dials them directly when he needs assistance. Most of the 911 calls released by the county, following a public records request by The News & Observer, originated with Soles’ neighbors.

On Sept. 12, 2008, a 911 caller reported that Blackburn, his sister and two others were riding around on Soles’ property on mo-peds and beating on the windows of the senator’s house. Police responded and told Blackburn to leave.

Two days later, Blackburn and two others were arrested fleeing from Soles’ house after a witness reported seeing them kick in the senator’s door.

Records show teenager B.J. Wright was at Soles’ house during a night in 2006 when police responded to calls from neighbors that shots and screaming could be heard coming from the property. The officers left after Soles told them everything was fine.

Meanwhile, the North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles has filed a lawsuit against Oak Island Mayor Johnie Vereen to recover $388,000 embezzled from a new-defunct license-plate agency. There’s no doubt that there was an embezzlement — the perpetrator, a former employee of Vereen’s at the agency, has already pleaded guilty to the crime. The question is whether the mayor should be personally responsible for the amount owed the state. The convicted employee says that Vereen was the one who showed her how to bilk the state.

Why do I mention this in a post on the Columbus County senator and scandal allegations? Because Vereen’s attorney is none other than R.C. Soles. And DMV is already mired in corruption allegations of its own (again).

[MitchellC]

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[Candor7]

Interesting local comment:

Not saying this is the case here, but an angle that might be interesting to examine is the the m.o. of the drug kingpin with his runners.
Drugs come up I-95 from Miami, one of the States’ major ports of call for drug deliveries from S. America, and Tabor City is near I-95, The Drug Highway that runs to NY. Of course, one never wants to press charges over trivia when there is a larger issue that might be uncovered.
In addition, a law practice might not generate the millions he seems to have, particularly when the litigants are poor. In Durham, the drug business is so lucrative (and so untaxed) that “runners” always have new cars and cell phones over which they receive their “orders.”

http://www.newsobserver.com/news/local_state/story/133030.html