Former state lottery commissioner Kevin Geddings was found guilty of a lobbying law violation in state court today and will be banned from lobbying in North Carolina for the next two years.
Geddings, 42, a former Charlotte public relations executive, was not in court to enter the plea. He will enter federal prison in the coming weeks to serve a four-year sentence for federal convictions related to hiding his ties to lottery vendor Scientific Games, Dan Kane reports.
His attorney, Tommy Manning of Raleigh, entered what is known as an Alford plea in court, said Wake Assistant District Attorney David Sherlin. An Alford plea allows defendants to maintain innocence but to nonetheless plead guilty because they see no other favorable alternative.
While Geddings would have been unlikely to work as a lobbyist while serving in prison, he has appealed his federal sentence.
More after the jump.
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As evidence of Geddings' guilt, Sherlin submitted to the court an invoice that Geddings sent to Scientific Games in June 2005. The invoice sought a $5,000 payment for Geddings' work prepping state Senate Majority Leader Tony Rand, a Fayetteville Democrat, for a lottery debate. Geddings should have registered as a lobbyist before prepping Rand, Sherlin said.
Geddings and two others with ties to Scientific Games were charged with violating the state's lobbying laws in the state lottery scandal. All three have now been found guilty of lobbying law violations.
The other two are former lobbyist Meredith Norris, who at the time was the unpaid political director to then House Speaker Jim Black, and former Scientific Games executive Alan Middleton.
Geddings also received a $500 fine and a year's probation.
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