May 23, 2013
The federal trial of a former North Carolina House member accused of theft, money laundering and filing false tax returns has been delayed until spring.
U.S. District Judge Malcolm Howard signed an order pushing back the trial for Republican Stephen LaRoque of Kinston from February until mid-May. Attorneys for LaRoque and the government sought the delay.
Howard cited additional charges filed against LaRoque last month and the complex nature of the case in granting the delay. The trial originally had been set to begin last October, three months after the original indictment.
The updated 12-count indictment accuses LaRoque of benefiting personally from federal loan money designed to help rural communities by funneling funds to another company he owned.
(Copyright 2013 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
