A former high-ranking Republican lawmaker now faces criminal charges in a public corruption investigation that has roiled politicians and lobbyists since it began last year, Wake County Prosecutor Lorrin Freeman told WRAL Thursday.
Jason Saine, a Republican from Lincoln County, was indicted by a Wake County grand jury on charges of embezzlement and obtaining property under false pretenses, Freeman said.
Saine was a lead writer of the state budget before he resigned from the Legislature two years ago. He has close ties to a nonprofit group called Greater Carolina, which is at the heart of the investigation. It was founded by his former collaborator and more recently led by his political ally David Coble.
Saine declined to be interviewed Thursday, but said in a written statement that he was innocent of the charges against him. “I look forward to clearing my name,” he said.
Greater Carolina and similarly organized nonprofits are often called dark money groups, allowed to largely hide their donors and spending from the public eye. They are also often heavily involved in state politics, and Freeman told WRAL that he has gone too far in his efforts to influence policy and legislation.
The group initially came under scrutiny for sending lobbyists and lawmakers on trips to Kentucky to visit bourbon distilleries. A subsequent criminal investigation revealed more details about his previously secret spending, including tens of thousands of additional dollars spent on strip clubs, soccer and golf outings, a beach house and much more.
Such groups “have become a ubiquitous part of the political landscape on both sides of the political aisle over the past decade,” Freeman said in a written statement.
She added, “While I don’t expect that to change, this case serves as a reminder that the law places restrictions on how they operate and makes clear that they should not be used as an end to circumvent the statutory framework embodied in our state’s ethics law and lobbying regulations.” »
Coble was also indicted on the same charges of embezzlement and obtaining property under false pretenses, Freeman said. She said Saine also faces an additional charge of aiding and abetting Coble in his alleged crimes.
Saine told WRAL he is innocent and doesn’t understand at all why he was charged.
“This organization has an independent board of directors that decides what and where to spend its money, and how to raise it,” he said Thursday. “I was not involved in these decisions, as I told the state. I did not commit any crime and I look forward to being exonerated.”
Saine is represented by Joseph Zeszotarski, the Raleigh criminal defense attorney who is also former FBI Director James Comey’s attorney, in his North Carolina criminal case for posting a photo of seashells that President Donald Trump said posed a threat to his life.
The Great Carolina Work in North Carolina
Greater Carolina’s official mission was to promote free market ideals, particularly the legalization of sports betting. Saine played a key role in legalizing sports betting in North Carolina in 2023. It has since become a multi-billion dollar industry in the state.
Search warrants in the case detailing the group’s spending on vacations, sporting events and strip clubs indicate investigators believe it strayed from the educational goal such groups must maintain in order to maintain their nonprofit status.
Freeman previously charged four gambling and alcohol company lobbyists as part of the investigation. In September, she reached deals to dismiss charges against three of the four people. They agreed to stay the charges, promising to undergo ethics training and pay a $1,000 fine in exchange for dropping the charges.
But Freeman has said for months that she planned to file more charges before leaving office. It was not immediately clear whether Thursday’s action was the last or whether more could still take place.
Many public corruption cases in the state take place in Wake County, as that is where the state capital and many public agencies are located. And even though Freeman didn’t seek re-election this year — she will leave office in January, replaced by new District Attorney Wiley Nickey — that doesn’t mean the investigation is over.
Nickel made public corruption a key focus of his campaign during the Democratic Party primaries this spring, promising to focus more on such cases. Nickel previously served in the State Senate and the U.S. Congress.
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