News-Record.com

From our friends at the Associated Press:

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A federal grand jury indicted former lottery commissioner Kevin Geddings on fraud charges Thursday, saying he tried to deceive the state of North Carolina by failing to disclose that he had worked for a leading supplier of scratch-off lottery tickets.

The U.S. Attorney's in Raleigh said Geddings, a former chief of staff to South Carolina Gov. Jim Hodges, faces five counts of mail fraud and four counts of wire fraud.

Prosecutors said Scientific Games Corp. paid Geddings nearly $230,000 from 2001 to 2005, but that Geddings never disclosed his financial ties to the company as required when he filled out a state financial disclosure form.

Geddings resigned from the newly formed commission Nov. 1, just before his relationship to the company was revealed.

The 42-page indictment alleges that Geddings concealed his work for the company because he knew it would disqualify him for a seat on the lottery commission.

For more on Geddings click here.

Not to put too fine a point on it, but I don't think many folks around Raleigh are going to be shocked or saddened if this guy eventually has to head off to the pokey. In addition to helping spark House Speaker Jim Black's troubles, the guy seems to have flat out lied to a lot of folks - including me - and according to the indictment his financial disclosure form was a work of fiction.

Speaking of Black, here’s a statement from his office regarding the indictment:

"Speaker Black, just like everyone else, was surprised to learn about the depth of Kevin Geddings' on-going business relationship with Scientific Games," said Julie Robinson, spokesperson for House Speaker Jim Black (D-Mecklenburg). "Had the Speaker known the details and exact timing of his relationship with the lottery company, he would never have appointed him to the new lottery commission."

As always, the comment lines are open.