State Auditor Beth Wood pleads guilty to using a state car for personal errands

State Auditor Beth Wood was ordered Friday to pay $1,064 and serve a year of unsupervised probation as part of a plea agreement over charges that she used a state-owned vehicle dozens of personal trips, including jaunts to spas and far-flung shopping centers.

Wearing a high-collared white overcoat and sporting her signature cropped blonde hairstyle, Wood placed her hand on a Bible in a Wake County courtroom, where she was read her rights. She then pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor counts of private use of public vehicle — a surreal coda in the case of a politician who 13 months ago was held in high esteem for her efforts to keep North Carolina government clean.

Wood was charged Nov. 7 after an eight-month probe by the State Bureau of Investigation found she used at least one state-owned vehicle to travel to hair appointments, dental appointments, and for other errands in 2021 and 2022.

The state auditor’s job is to make sure government programs are using their resources as efficiently as possible while complying with state and federal regulations.

“One of the things striking in this case is she, for 15 years, held people accountable but then violated the rules," Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman said Friday. "This is a double standard.”

Wood, a Democrat, earned bipartisan praise for her efforts to ensure public resources have been used appropriately over her four terms. Days after she was charged, Wood said she would step down. Her last day was Friday, the same day she appeared in Wake County court.

Wood's lawyer, Roger Smith Jr., said that Wood accepted responsibility for her actions that led to the charges, and that she had already paid restitution.

“This is a sad day for Beth Wood," Smith said in a statement. "It's an abrupt end to a great career as North Carolina's state auditor. For the past 15 years, she has been honored to serve the people of this state. She absolutely loved her job and is thankful for the opportunity to have served. She has paid a heavy price, but she looks forward to her next chapter."

The punishment levied Friday — the restitution and one-year probation — was far less than the 240 days in jail she could have faced under the maximum possible punishment for the two charges. But through the ordeal, Wood also gave up a position she fought hard to win.

The New Bern native worked in the auditor’s office before running for her boss’s job in 2008. She defeated him to become the first woman to ever hold the position. She identified millions of dollars in government waste, tangled with high-profile officials from both political parties and earning the respect of officials across the political spectrum — a legacy that wasn't lost on Superior Court Judge Paul Ridgeway in approving the plea deal.

"You have served the state of North Carolina with distinction for a number of years — one of those rare public figures that's garnered respect from all political camps in the state," Ridgeway told Wood from the bench. "And I think that speaks well of the service you've rendered. I thank you for that service. It is also a mitigating factor in all criminal cases when one accepts responsibility; you've done that today."

Shortly after the morning hearing, in her last hours in the job, Wood continued the kind work she became known for, releasing the results of an audit of the state’s information systems.

Spas, shopping and audits

Wood’s driving habits came under scrutiny following a Dec. 8, 2022, incident in which Wood crashed a state-issued Toyota sedan into a parked car in downtown Raleigh after a holiday party. Wood was charged misdemeanor hit-and-run after the incident. She ultimately pleaded guilty, apologized for the incident and paid to repair the vehicle.

Shortly after the crash, the state suspended her vehicle assignment — and discouraged her from driving other state vehicles — while police investigated the crash. After the suspension was issued, however, she used a separate state vehicle for personal trips, according to a State Bureau of Investigation affidavit.

State employees, who must record their uses of state vehicles, are prohibited from using state vehicles for personal reasons. Investigators found discrepancies between hand-written driving logs submitted by Wood and computers that track state vehicles’ exact movements, Freeman said Friday. “It was readily apparent that the logs as submitted were not accurate,” she told the judge. “And, in fact, the state's position would be that they were fraudulent.”

Freeman said there were indications that Wood used a state vehicle to travel to an outlet mall, shopping centers, cosmetic dentistry appointments and, on a number of occasions, a Fayetteville hair salon. She also took more than two dozen trips to a pair of spas in Raleigh and dozens more to a Knightdale shopping center, Freeman said.

She noted that Wood was responsible for conducting audits on the use of state property by state employees and agencies, pointing to a 2019 audit of the state’s motor fleet management under the Department of Administration that found inadequate oversight of state vehicles.

“Ms. Wood has been seen to have served the state well in her capacity as state auditor,” Freeman told the judge. “But for those of us who the public invest their trust in, there can't be a second standard. And, it would be the state's position, your honor, that she violated the public trust.”

In arguing for the penalties outlined in the plea agreement, Freeman added: “The only appropriate action was for her to step down. She has taken steps to make the state whole in paying restitution. She does come today to accept responsibility. She has cooperated during the course of this investigation and the state is satisfied at this time.”

Holmes steps in

Wood, a Certified Public Accountant, said last month that she wants to start a second career on the public speaking circuit and that she has had some corporate offers, but didn’t elaborate on the nature of the offers at the time.

Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper last month picked former Wake County Commissioner Jessica Holmes to serve the remainder of Wood’s term. She'll be sworn in on Saturday in Raleigh.

Holmes, a Democrat, will become the first Black woman to serve on the North Carolina Council of State, a collection of 10 statewide officials. She also plans to seek a full four-year term as auditor in next year's election.

Holmes is a lawyer with a focus on labor and employment law. She was the Democratic nominee in the 2020 election for Labor Commissioner and lost a close race to current Commissioner Josh Dobson.

She was elected to the Wake County Board of Commissioners in 2014 and became the board's chair in 2017, serving on the body through 2020. When she was chosen to replace Wood, she was a deputy commissioner with the North Carolina Industrial Commission, which deals with workers compensation claims. She will give up that appointment to take the auditor position.