Wright convicted, sentenced to 6 to 8 years in prison

Raleigh | Just last month, Thomas Wright was the eight-term representative of N.C. House District 18. On Monday, he was a convicted felon, sentenced to six to eight years in prison.

Wake County Superior Court Judge Henry Hight handed down Wright's sentence a couple of hours after jurors found him guilty on three of the four felony fraud charges he faced.

The jury convicted him of obtaining property by false pretenses by defrauding a bank to lend him $150,000.

He also was convicted of obtaining property by false pretenses for soliciting $7,400 in contributions from two businesses that he ultimately deposited in his personal account.

He was acquitted on another charge in connection with a $1,500 contribution from AT&T that also was intended for his fledgling nonprofit but ended up in his account.

Wright was taken into custody and led out of the courtroom moments after the sentence was imposed. Monday evening he was in Wake County Jail, awaiting transfer to prison.

His lawyer, Doug Harris, vowed to appeal the convictions.

Harris had asked that Wright remain free while the appeal is pending, arguing that he was not a threat to the community, but Hight denied the request.

'Another unpleasant chapter'

Wake County District Attorney Colon Willoughby called Wright's case "another unpleasant chapter" that prosecutors have been dealing with during the past several years, which have seen the convictions of other high-profile state politicians on improprieties while in office.

"I think he just forgot who he was supposed to be serving," Willoughby said after Wright's sentencing. "I think that's something that all public officials need to think about is, who are you supposed to serve? It's the people, not yourself."

During the trial, Willoughby argued Wright fraudulently persuaded a bank to lend him $150,000 in 2002 by telling a lender that state grants would be used to pay off the debt even though no money was coming.

That money was to buy a building on North Fourth Street in downtown Wilmington to open a museum about the 1898 race riot and to house offices for Wright's health foundation.

The bank eventually foreclosed on the building when Wright was unable to keep up with loan payments.

The other charges stemmed from corporate contributions Wright received for his project. In solicitation letters to corporations, Wright stated the money would help with health-access projects or the museum's development.

After both failed, Wright put the contributions into his account.

The charge on which Wright was acquitted involved one of those contributions, a donation from AT&T. It was the only one of the three discussed in the trial for which prosecutors had no letter from Wright detailing what he would do with the donation.

Wright's lawyer:

Conviction 'is wrong'

At the trial's start last week, Harris asked for a delay because of publicity from Wright's expulsion from the legislature March 20.

Harris said that made it difficult to pick unbiased jurors, and he will base his appeal on a U.S. Supreme Court decision about pretrial publicity. He also said he would appeal the court's decision to let a state elections board official testify about Wright's campaign finance reports because the information was not relevant to the fraud charges.

"I certainly told him he's likely to be convicted here today," Harris said of Wright, "but I also told him that, in the end, he'd be vindicated. In the end, an appeals court will say this is wrong."

Willoughby said the jurors, who deliberated for part of Friday and until about noon Monday, made their decision carefully.

"They deliberated for a long time, gave it careful consideration and made the only right decision that they could make," he said.

Wright's legal troubles might not be over. He could face another trial in Wake County dealing with his campaign finance reporting, as well as prosecution in New Hanover related to a $10,000 business loan for his nonprofit he took out from a Wilmington credit union.

Willoughby said Monday he was uncertain when he would pursue the campaign finance charge. "I think it's best to make those decisions when you can calmly reflect on it, not on the heels of this decision," he said.

Harris also said he would ask the state appeals court to overturn Wright's expulsion from the House.

Still campaigning

for re-election

Wright said late last week that despite the trial's distraction, he has been campaigning for re-election to his seat, primarily at night and on weekends.

Wright's name cannot be removed from the ballots this close to the May 6 Democratic primary, and he is able to continue running until his appeals are exhausted.

Harris said it would be difficult for Wright to win because of the conviction, but he expressed confidence that Wright still has a chance.

"I can say it's very possible he'll win," he said, "and if he wins, we'll probably have this (conviction) turned before we get to the November ballot."

Vicky Eckenrode: 343-2339

vicky.eckenrode@starnewsonline.com