Nevertheless, the news about State Sen. Fletcher Hartsell, Jr. now facing federal as well as state charges for using his campaign funds as a personal piggy bank is a relief. WRAL reports
State Sen.Fletcher Hartsell, R-Cabarrus, faces charges of mail fraud and money laundering in connection with his campaign spending under a federal indictment handed down Tuesday.
Although Sen. Hartsell's self-dealing was pointed out in news articles (and other places) in January 2012, it took the SBOE until July 2015 to issue findings that this was actually a bad thing. A state indictment FINALLY followed in June of this year, and a federal indictment was issued on Tuesday.
In the meantime, guess who has continued to be a sitting state senator? Good 'ol Fletcher Hartsell, Jr. Not only that, his ethically challenged Republican peers kept him on as a chair, vice-chair, or co-chair of numerous committees, including the Finance Committee (presumably because he was so good with keeping track of finances).
Well, at least they got the "vice" part right.
