NC's largest political donor, convicted of bribery, donates to ACLU

The state's largest political donor, convicted three months ago on a federal bribery charge, has pledged $1 million to the American Civil Liberties Union's Criminal Law Reform Project.

Greg Lindberg, a North Carolina businessman who owns hundreds of companies, said in a news release that "people have taken to the streets to air their frustration with a system that is stacked against them."

"This contribution is meant to help people who don't have the resources to fight injustice," he said.

The ACLU was not quoted in Lindberg's release, but a spokesman in the group's national office confirmed the donation. The spokesman said the ACLU has received the first payment of a 5-year pledge.

He did not respond to an invitation to comment further.

Lindberg was convicted in March after a multi-year FBI sting involving N.C. Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey. Causey recorded Lindberg and his associates as they discussed campaign donations in return for Causey moving a particular state regulator off of reviews targeting Lindberg's insurance companies in the state.

Former state Republican Party Chairman Robin Hayes pleaded guilty in the case as well.

Lindberg maintains his innocence, and he has accused Causey of entrapment. The state took control of his insurance companies, citing liquidity concerns, and a subpoena served on the consultant brought in to oversee those companies indicates a second federal inquiry into Lindberg's business practices was ongoing at least as recently as last year.

The ACLU's Criminal Law Reform Project focuses on policing and sentencing and seeks "to end excessively harsh criminal justice policies that result in mass incarceration, over-criminalization and racial injustice," the organization says on its website.

In his release, Lindberg said that he has been "disturbed by the consequences of prosecutorial abuses and unjust incarceration of non-violent offenders for some time" and that that "recent events have exacerbated these concerns."

"Most people can't afford to fight and they get rolled over by prosecutors and their bag of tricks," Lindberg said in his release. "'Justice for all' is sadly a mirage in much of today's America."