Black Surrenders to Marshals
Former House Speaker Jim Black surrendered at the U.S. Marshal's Service office in downtown Raleigh Monday afternoon to begin a 63-month federal prison term.
Posted — UpdatedBlack pleaded guilty in February to accepting an illegal gratuity – taking more than $25,000 from chiropractors while backing legislation favorable to the industry.
The 72-year-old Mecklenburg County Democrat had asked to postpone his reporting date for a week so he could attend a sentencing scheduled for Tuesday in Wake County court on state bribery and obstruction of justice charges. U.S. District Judge Terrence Boyle never acted on the request, however.
Black arrived at the U.S. Marshal's Service office at about 1:50 p.m., about 10 minutes before a court-ordered 2 p.m. deadline.
He was held in the Wake County Jail so he could be sentenced Tuesday. There was no word on when he will be transfered to the minimum-security federal prison camp in Lewisburg, Pa., where the U.S. Bureau of Prisons assigned him.
Lewisburg is about 500 miles from his home in Matthews. He had asked to be assigned to the federal prison in Butner.
The Lewisburg prison camp houses primarily white-collar criminals.
Black has requested admission to an alcohol-abuse treatment program while in prison. Bureau of Prisons guidelines allow for inmates to shave up to a year off their sentences if they complete a substance abuse program while incarcerated.
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