Trial for Perdue associates goes forward
Judge Abraham Jones ruled Wednesday that the charges against two associates of Gov. Bev Perdue should stand.
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Trawick "Buzzy" Stubbs Jr., once a law partner to the governor's deceased first husband, and Juleigh Sitton of Morganton, a former Perdue aide, are accused of violating campaign finance laws by helping Perdue with travel during her 2008 campaign for governor.
Stubbs is charged with providing Perdue with more than $28,000 in undisclosed flights from early 2007 until just before the November 2008 election, paying for them through his law firm. Sitton is accused of causing Perdue's campaign to file false reports and hiding some income she got while working for Perdue's campaign.
Lawyers for the two defendants argued separately the charges should be dismissed because they should be prosecuted in their home counties, not Wake County. They also said Wake County District Attorney Colon Willoughby lacked the authority to ask a State Bureau of Investigation agent to assist him with the case.
Perdue hasn't been charged with any wrongdoing in the case, and Willoughby has said she wasn't the focus of his investigation. Willoughby said interviews with Stubbs and Perdue, who are friends, show the governor had no knowledge of Stubbs' flight activities.
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