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The new head of the state agency charged with busting illegal video poker took a $500 campaign contribution from a man who has backed legalizing the gambling games.

John Ledford was sworn in as director of state Alcohol Law Enforcement Wednesday in Madison County, where he has severed as sheriff the last 10 years.

In raising funds for his most recent reelection campaign in 2006, Ledford accepted a $500 contribution from Howard Cole of Weaverville, owner of Cole Vending Co.

Cole has been a leader in the video poker industry's political efforts to win legalization and has been a frequent contributor to the campaigns of Democrats such as former House Speaker Jim Black and fomer Gov. Mike Easley, as well as committees seeking to elect Republican candidates.

Dome was unable to review finance reports from Ledford's earlier campaigns because the offices of the Madison County Board of Elections were flooded by Hurricane Francis in 2004, destroying those records, according to the county's elections director.

Ledford, who worked as an ALE agent for five years in the 1990s before resigning to become sheriff, could not be reached for comment Thursday. He replaces Bill Chandler, who retired suddenly last month following reports in The News & Observer and The Charlotte Observer about ALE's handling of firearms, including two missing assault rifles.

Update: Ledford said Thursday afternoon he was aware Cole had ties to video poker when he accepted the donation. Weaverville is in Buncombe County, which borders Madison County.

"I know who he is," Ledford said. "It's a small community. Everybody kind of knows everybody, or at least if you run a business. That's basically the way I know the man."

Ledford said the contribution would in no way affect how he does his job.

"I'll do what I've always done as a law enforcement officer — I'm going to carry out the duties of my office fairly and impartially," he said.

* A former state trooper wants his job back after being fired for having a drunken sexual encounter with another trooper's wife in the back seat of a car headed home from a Christmas party.

The woman's husband was in the front seat.

Timothy J. White of Salisbury was dismissed from the N.C. Highway Patrol on June 2 after he continued to contact the other trooper's wife, despite being told by his superiors to stay away from her, according to documents on file at the state Office of Administrative Hearings.

White, 39, was terminated for personal conduct unbecoming of an officer. He immediately filed an appeal on the grounds that he was being treated more harshly than other troopers accused of similar behavior.

Since 1998, state records show at least 27 cases of sexual misconduct by troopers either on or off duty. While some troopers were fired, several who had extramarital affairs or behaved inappropriately were given lesser punishments and later received promotions.

The incident that led to White's dismissal occurred after a Dec. 17 party at a bar in Mocksville, southwest of Winston-Salem. White, a patrol veteran who had been promoted to the rank of sergeant earlier that month, said he consumed about nine beers at the party. He then had a sexual encounter with the wife of Master Trooper Eric B. Perdue, according to the state report.

Perdue was White's subordinate and is listed as a witness to the incident. A third trooper was driving them home. (N&O)

* The director of the N.C. Division of Alcohol Law Enforcement announced his sudden retirement Monday, eight days after reports his agency bought all of its agents assault rifles and that two of the weapons were missing.

Bill Chandler's retirement was announced in an afternoon e-mail to the agency's employees from Reuben F. Young, the state secretary of the N.C. Department of Crime Control and Public Safety. Chandler, who was appointed to head ALE by former Gov. Mike Easley in November 2007, had worked at the agency 30 years as a field agent and supervisor.

Young said Chandler, 51, put in his retirement papers after the two had a private talk Monday morning. Though he would not discuss what specifically triggered the director's departure, the secretary said he was concerned by issues raised in a Sept. 13 article published in The News & Observer and The Charlotte Observer.

Chandler will be replaced by John Ledford, a former ALE agent who is currently the sheriff of Madison County. Ledford, 44, will take over the agency in November, according to Young.