Beason at Bishops Ridge

Three legislators were directly and indirectly involved in a real estate deal with Don Beason in 2002.

Then Rep. Theresa Esposito, a Winston-Salem Republican, and her husband Alfred sold a 1,000-square-foot condominium in Bishops Ridge in Raleigh to the lobbyist on Sept. 10 of that year. The complex is popular among legislators.

Esposito, a former co-chair of the House budget committee, retired from the legislature a few weeks later.

Connie Kowalske, the real estate agent who notarized the sale, works for Howard Realty, a firm owned by Rep. Julia C. Howard, a Mocksville Republican.

And the closing attorney on the sale was John Cargill, who was a legal partner of then Rep. Bob Hensley, a Raleigh Democrat.

The Register of Deeds office could not find a deed of trust for the property, which could indicate that Beason paid the $142,500 price in cash.