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Thurs: Poole Cues
posted at 2010-01-28 23:34 | Last modified 2010-01-28 23:56
Former Easley aide Ruffin Poole made his initial appearance in federal court today to answer to a 51 count indictment on corruption charges ranging from extortion and bibery to mail fraud and money laundering.
About 20 minutes before noon (just in time for the noon live shot, perhaps not coincidentally), the handcuffed Poole was subjected to a long, embarrassing perp walk past the TV cameras, escorted by FBI and IRS investigators. Two hours later, he was handcuffed again for his entrance into Judge Terrence Boyle’s 7th-floor courtroom.
Poole, a little rumpled in a dark suit with a striped tie, seemed dazed during the hearing, looking down and blinking a lot as Boyle ran down the charges in the indictment. He was so subdued that at one point, Boyle asked whether Poole could hear him: “Yes, sir.”
It’s not hard to see why he’d be subdued. According to my back-of-the-napkin math, if Poole were to be found guilty on all 51 counts, he could be looking at a prison sentence somewhere north of 700 years, plus fines of more than $10M . That’d take the wind out of anyone’s sails, right?
Maybe. Poole left the courtroom on $50K bond, kissing his wife on the head on the way out. But twenty paces out of the courtroom, his trademark smirk was back as he watched a horde of reporters crowding into the elevator with him. So maybe not.
No Plea
Poole’s attorney Joe Zeszotarski didn’t enter a plea on the charges today, and Judge Boyle didn’t ask for one. That’s not that unusual in case this big or this convoluted. But then came a friendly gesture that could rock Jones St.: After the hearing, federal prosecutor John Bruce walked over to shake Ruffin Poole’s hand.
From what little I know of John Bruce, he seems like a very nice man who’s probably polite by nature. It wouldn’t be unusual for him to shake hands with opposing counsel. But the defendant? Not so much.
Kieran Shanahan pointed out the same thing. The former assistant US attorney turned GOP activist was on hand to offer color commentary outside the courthouse today. Shanahan thinks Poole’s working with the feds to reduce his potential sentence. Shanahan thinks the indictment’s pretty clearly pointed at Poole’s old boss, former Governor Mike Easley, though he admits that's purely speculation. If it's true, though, putting Poole on the stand could help the Feds seal their case.
"I really credit the way the government did the Ruffin Poole indictment, because you almost don’t need a live person because the paper trail is so strong. But I think, in terms of having a governor on trial, you really want to have somebody like Ruffin Poole who’s on the inside giving actual live testimony. So assuming that the facts bear out that former Governor Easley was involved, Ruffin Poole would certainly be a blow to any defense that Easley might try to put on."
The raw tape of Shanahan’s comments to the press is here:
Listen Now!
Next Steps
There’s no word yet on the date for the next pre-trial hearing. But if Shanahan’s right about Poole working with the Feds to lighten his (ludicrously large) potential sentence, it could be a while before he’s back in court.
Both Lanny Wilson and McQueen Campbell are reportedly working with investigators, too. If that’s the case, the next announcement out of the Sanford Building is likely to be a new indictment, maybe as soon as February. And in case you’re wondering, the investigators generally work their way up.
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