Stephen A. LaRoque Indicted by Federal Prosecutors | Eastern North Carolina Now

   Kinston, NC native Stephen A. LaRoque, A Republican legislator in the NC House representing the 10th District, has been indicted eight criminal counts related to alleged theft from programs that receive federal funds, as handed down by a Federal Grand Jury. The maximum penalty for each count is 10 years imprisonment.

   Representative LaRoque, who represents, in part, the counties of Lenoir, Wayne and Greene, was an influential lieutenant in the short rise of NC House Speaker Thom Tillis, Mecklenburg County. Rep LaRoque was also Co-chairman of the influential Rules Committee in the NC House.

   Swirling, as a controversy, at the heart of the Rep. LaRoque's investigation and subsequent Grand Jury is that the Speaker did not move to strip the Republican house representative of his respective committee statuses.

   On Wednesday, July 18, 2012, House Speaker Thom Tillis has now asked the Rep. LaRoque to resign from the NC House. Earlier in the day, Speaker Tillis stripped the beleaguered representative of his committee leadership positions.

   Here below is the Press Release from United States Attorney Thomas G. Walker:

    United States Attorney Thomas G. Walker announced that today a Federal Grand Jury has returned an eight-count Criminal Indictment charging STEPHEN A. LAROQUE, 48, of Kinston, North Carolina, with theft concerning programs receiving federal funds, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 666(a)(1)(A), and engaging in monetary transactions involving property derived from certain specified unlawful activity, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1957.

   The maximum penalty for each count is up to 10 years imprisonment.

   An indictment contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty in court.

   The case involves a joint investigation by the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation Division, the United States Department of Agriculture, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation.

   Click here to read the 72 page indictment against Stephen A. LaRoque .