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Concord, N.C. — The Cabarrus County Sheriff's Office says that a man charged with murder sought revenge on a man suspected of molesting his young relative. WBTV, a CBS affiliate in Charlotte, reports that Christopher Michael Hartsell, 32, shot and killed William Lee Ballance, 47, in his residence in a small mobile home park early Friday. Neighbors told WBTV that Hartsell had lived with Ballance, a convicted sex offender, until about a week ago. Around the same time that Hartsell moved out, rumors started that Ballance had molested a young relative of Hartsell. On Thursday, the Cabarrus County Sheriff's Office...

The Example of Frank Ballance By Joel Raupe For a year now, recommended reading for all state legislators has been the federal indictment of former U.S. Rep. Frank Ballance of Warren County. For those voices crying in the wilderness about a real “culture of corruption” among Raleigh’s elites, the charges laid out by the Grand Jury could include the best descriptions and definitions of “what not to do” as an elected representative of American citizens. Once again, I urge everyone, our elected officials, potential candidates and all our citizens to read it thoroughly. Not only will you easily understand why...

Ballance to hold another fundraiser before prison term starts Dec 26, 2005 : 3:37 pm ET RALEIGH, N.C. -- Former Rep. Frank Ballance is holding one last fundraiser before he begins serving a four-year prison term at the end of this week. Ballance, a Democrat from Warrenton who represented the First District of North Carolina, resigned in June 2004 for health reasons before completing his first term. He was sentenced to prison in October after pleading guilty to funneling tax dollars into his foundation and using $100,000 for himself and his family. He will be honored Wednesday at the Roanoke...

ELIZABETH CITY, N.C. -- Former Rep. Frank Ballance was sentenced Wednesday to four years in prison for conspiring to divert taxpayer money to his supporters and family through a charitable organization he helped start. Ballance, 63, a longtime state legislator before being elected to Congress, has until Dec. 30 to turn himself in, U.S. District Court Judge Terrence Boyle ruled. Ballance also agreed to repay $61,917.25 and to forfeit $203,000 in a bank escrow account in the name of the John A. Hyman Memorial Foundation. "I want to apologize to my family and all the people I represent for what,...

Ballance expected to plead guilty to mishandling public money By STEVE HARTSOE, Associated Press Writer November 9, 2004   12:05 pm RALEIGH, N.C. -- Frank Ballance, the former U.S. congressman who resigned from his eastern North Carolina seat this summer, is to plead guilty Tuesday to a federal corruption charge related to mishandling of money by his charitable foundation, his lawyer said.Ballance, a 62-year-old Democrat, was in his first term representing the 1st Congressional District when he resigned in June, citing ill health.His lawyer, Joseph B. Cheshire V said Ballance would enter his plea at an arraignment Tuesday afternoon in...

Republican Greg Dority said Wednesday he will take on G.K. Butterfield "anytime, anywhere" if the Democratic congressman will agree to debate him before the Nov. 2 General Election. Dority, who is seeking to unseat Butterfield in the state's First U.S. House District, said he's open to a debate, but that Butterfield thus far has declined his requests for one. Butterfield's reasons for not debating have either been that Congress was in session, or that he and Dority couldn't agree on a debate format, Dority said. "It is my position he is ducking me because he is not qualified to debate...

Former U.S. Rep. Frank Ballance indicted The Associated Press September 2, 2004   3:29 pm RALEIGH, N.C. -- Former U.S. Rep. Frank Ballance was indicted Thursday on a federal charge of mail fraud and money laundering.The U.S. Attorney's Office in Raleigh said Ballance and his son, Garey Ballance, both face charges in connection with a drug and alcohol counseling program the father founded in northeastern North Carolina.Garey Ballance, a District Court judge, is charged with not filing a tax return in 2000.Ballance, 62, resigned from Congress in June, four months after being diagnosed with myasthenia gravis, a condition that results...

Rep. Frank Ballance (D-N.C.) Resigns Congressman Cites Health as Reason for Resignation The Associated Press Tuesday, June 8, 2004; 11:50 AM WARRENTON, N.C. -- Rep. Frank Ballance resigned from Congress on Tuesday, saying a neuromuscular disorder has affected his ability to carry out his duties. Ballance, 62, was diagnosed in February with myasthenia gravis, which causes muscle weakness. He said in a statement Tuesday that he was "no longer able to carry out the responsibilities of this office due to my current health condition."

Democratic U.S. Rep. Frank Ballance Jr. unleashed a political Maelstrom on Friday in the state's 1st Congressional District by announcing that he would not seek re-election. The one-term congressman from Warrenton said he was, in effect, stepping down due to health problems. "We're pressing on," Ballance told the Daily News during an interview. In a press release, Ballance's congressional office in Washington, D.C., reported that the congressman was diagnosed in February with myasthenia gravis, a neuromuscular disease. "With treatment, he was expected to regain normal strength in approximately six weeks, but his condition has not progressed as expected," says the...

Rep. Ballance withdraws candidacy for N.C. district The Associated Press May 7, 2004   9:08 am RALEIGH, N.C. -- Rep. Frank Ballance Jr., D-N.C., withdrew his candidacy for re-election Friday to the First District congressional seat he has held for one term, citing health concerns.Ballance had filed for re-election Tuesday.He said in a statement that he had been diagnosed with myasthenia gravis, a neuromuscular disease and his treatment wasn't progressing as he had hoped.Ballance's statement said he suffered a setback on Wednesday and had treatment at Bethesda Navy Medical Center, which caused him to reconsider his decision to seek...

Democratic U.S. Rep. Frank Ballance Jr. of Warrenton responded Thursday to statements made by one of his potential Republican opponents and repeated his claim that he has not broken the law. Ballance renewed that claim, already reported by the Daily News and other newspapers, as possible GOP challenger Greg Dority of Washington helped make Ballance's past involvement with a nonprofit agency a central theme of the campaign. Dority has said repeatedly during public appearances that he believes Ballance will be indicted, convicted and sent to jail for his role in distributing state funds to the now-closed, drug-combatting John A. Hyman...

Apparently, U.S. Rep. Frank Ballance, D-N.C., wasn't aware that federal income tax returns are to be in the mail no later than April 15 - every year. You would expect a congressman to be more knowledgeable. The tax-exempt nonprofit organization he chairs filed its first tax return last year - only 10 years late - and only after the Carolina Journal reported that lapse so Ballance's constituents could learn who they had just sent to Congress to replace the retiring and respected Eva Clayton. On April 15, 2003, Ballance said the organization he heads, The John A. Hyman Memorial Youth...

Former state Supreme Court Justice G.K. Butterfield of Wilson has decided he won't challenge U.S. Rep. Frank Ballance in the 1st District Democratic primary. Butterfield, who is now a Superior Court judge, had formed an exploratory campaign committee, citing in part a scandal involving a charitable foundation formed by Ballance. Butterfield said he commissioned a poll that found 58 percent of those surveyed were aware of the investigation into the John A. Hyman Memorial Youth Foundation. Still, he said Ballance should not be obstructed in his work and would abide by a promise he made to Ballance not to challenge...

Good article in my favorite website,really witty,if you live in the 1st District,you already know all the charges,but this is the best and easiest to read summation of the investigation i've read yet.

Ballance vows to keep jobBy Latisha R. Gray, The Daily Reflector U.S. Rep. Frank Ballance said he will continue representing the people of District 1, despite criticism and an ongoing federal investigation of a drug and alcohol counseling program he founded. Ballance, a Democrat from Warrenton, said he was not willing to discuss the issue at a forum Tuesday night at J.H. Rose High School. With many opponents calling for his resignation, Ballance said he wanted to focus on the needs of his constituents. "I'm not going to go into that," he said. "It's been hashed and rehashed. I want...

Pitt County's citizens who live in the 1st Congressional District will begin a new year with a shadow of doubt over their representation in Washington. A federal grand jury is considering testimony from an FBI and U.S. Attorney's Office investigation into a now defunct drug and alcohol counseling program funded by state money and begun by U.S. Rep. Frank Ballance, a Democrat from Warrenton. In October, a state audit identified $325,000 in questionable expenses by the John A. Hyman Foundation and found the organization riddled with conflicts of interest. The audit confirmed poor practices, inattention to records and lack of...

<p>North Carolina Rep. Frank Ballance co-founded the John Hyman Foundation years ago when he served as a state senator. He helped direct millions in state money to the nonprofit organization. A federal grand jury continues to ask where did that money go and why?</p>

When I inaugurated the Carolina Journal Online "Tinfoil Hat Award" last week, I really expected to put some distance between announcements of its conspiracy-minded recipients. After all, each of the lucky honorees deserves plenty of time to bask in his or her own place in the sun -- or at least somewhere kind of hot -- before being supplanted by the next one. That was my intention, anyway, but U.S. Rep. Frank Ballance has made it simply impossible for me to follow through on it. In defending himself and his state-funded nonprofit organization Wednesday against swirling charges of mismanagement, conflict...

An attorney representing U.S. Rep. Frank Ballance said Tuesday that a federal grand jury is scheduled to hear evidence next week regarding a now-closed anti-drug foundation the congressman founded. Subpoenas have been issued to people who have received money from the John A. Hyman Memorial Youth Foundation, said Joseph B. Cheshire V of Raleigh. He said they have been told to appear before a federal grand jury Nov. 5. Cheshire did not identify who had received subpoenas. He said Ballance, a Warrenton Democrat, has not received one. Still, news of the subpoenas provided the latest evidence that a criminal investigation...

The head of the Republican Party in Congressional District One called for the resignation of Halifax Community College President Ted Gasper this morning. GOP chairman Ed Wharton of Goldsboro cited reports in the conservative publication, the Carolina Journal, as the basis for the party's stand. This morning, the online version of the Carolina Journal, published by the John Locke Foundation, claimed that "Gasper used state resources to raise money for the congressional campaign of Rep. Frank Ballance of Warrenton ..." Attempts by the Daily Herald to contact Gasper and Ballance this morning were unsuccessful. In a letter to state Community...