From the Charlotte (NC) Observer:

Ex-N.C. House speaker to resign, enter guilty plea
By Gary L. Wright, David Ingram and Mark Johnson · The Charlotte Observer - Updated 02/14/07 - 12:17 AM

CHARLOTTE -- Former House Speaker Jim Black is expected to plead guilty to a public corruption charge in federal court in Raleigh on Thursday, ending the career of North Carolina's most powerful speaker of the modern political era.

Under the deal, Black is expected to plead guilty to one count of accepting illegal gratuities, according to his lawyer and an Observer source. The felony charge carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

In response to questions from the Observer, Black's attorney, Charlotte lawyer Kenneth Bell, confirmed Black's plans.

"Since somebody is talking who shouldn't have and has leaked what's happened, I will confirm that Dr. Black will enter a guilty plea to accepting illegal gratuities in federal court on Thursday," he said on Tuesday.

Besides the federal charge, Black is expected to plead guilty to state charges within the next week, according to two sources familiar with the arrangements. It's unclear what those charges are.

He also will have to resign his House seat, as the N.C. Constitution bars felons from holding office. Black did not return messages left at his office and on his phone Tuesday.

The Mecklenburg County Democratic Party's executive committee will meet and recommend a replacement for Black's seat, who Gov. Mike Easley will then appoint. Easley could not be reached Tuesday night.

"It's unfortunate that this is the ending that comes to a man who has spent so much of his career serving the people of North Carolina," N.C. Democratic Party Chair Jerry Meek said Tuesday night.

Black, 71, began his career in the House at age 45, serving two terms in the early 1980s before losing three straight elections. He was elected in 1990 and steadily built a base of support that led to his election as Democratic leader and then speaker. His most serious election challenge came last year when Republican Hal Jordan lost by 30 votes.

Jordan said many political insiders were expecting an indictment against Black. "The question was whether he was going to enter a plea or fight it."

One source said the former speaker's plea is unrelated to controversies surrounding the video poker industry, the creation of the N.C. lottery, the appointment of then-lottery commissioner Kevin Geddings, illegal lobbying or former Republican Rep. Michael Decker's admission last summer that he accepted a bribe.

During his tenure as speaker, Black guided millions of dollars in state money to Mecklenburg. Under his leadership, UNC Charlotte became a stronger force in the state system. He helped lure Johnson & Wales University to Charlotte and secured funds for a host of nonprofits and city projects.

He presided over budgets that steadily boosted education funding and engineered a crucial vote to pass the state lottery.

In his eight years as speaker, Black elevated the office into a political power center through consensus building and fundraising. He held together a usually slim Democratic majority.

The speaker determines which legislation reaches the House floor for a vote and appoints members to dozens of state commissions and boards. He leveraged the office into a fundraising machine, collecting donations and then doling them out to caucus members. By doing so he secured both his majority and the loyalty of many of its members.

The court action will end a nearly two-year-long federal and state investigation that has rattled the state's political establishment and has led to five associates of Black being found guilty in federal or state courts.

The long-running probe forced Black, 71, from the speaker's office in December and paraded lawmakers, legislative staffers, political contributors and public officials in front of a federal grand jury.

"If the reports are correct, Thursday will be a sad day for the House of Representatives," said Rep. Paul Stam, the House Republican leader. "I hope that every member resolves that under new management no one in the future will ever take illegal gratuities again."

The investigation, conducted by federal and state agents, fanned in several directions, revealing, among other transgressions, a cash-for-vote deal transacted at a pancake house that kept Black in power. The former lawmaker who admitted to taking the $50,000 bribe, Decker, from the Winston-Salem area, pleaded guilty in August to a federal charge of conspiracy.

The State Board of Elections ruled that Black was involved in illegal campaign contributions from optometrists who bundled partially blank checks from colleagues. Staff writer Jim Morrill contributed.