Perdue names new ABC leaders

Jonathan Williams, the No. 2 official at the Department of Crime Control & Public Safety, will take over as the new chair of the state Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission.

Gov. Beverly Perdue is expected to name Williams today, along with Surf City Mayor A.D. "Zander" Guy to fill the vacant commissioner's seat on the three-member panel. They will join current commissioner John Lyon Jr., of Raleigh.

Williams (above) is a 10-year veteran of crime control, where he started as deputy general counsel and rose to his current post as deputy secretary. He received his bechelor's and law degrees from UNC Chapel Hill. He also serves as executive director of the Governor's Crime Commission.

Guy (below), who owns a real estate firm, serves on the state banking commission. In 1990 he served three months in prison for obtaining property by false pretenses. The conviction came after authorities accused Guy, then an insurance agent, of collecting money from clients by falsely claiming premiums were due.

UPDATE: Williams is no longer director of the crime commission. Guy was pardoned by Gov. Jim Martin, a Republican, who also commuted Guy's sentence from three years to three months.