Thomas Edward Wright was a Democratic member of the North Carolina House of Representatives who represented the state's eighteenth district, including constituents in New Hanover and Pender counties, from 1992 to 2008. An EMS instructor from Wilmington, North Carolina, Wright was serving his eighth term in the House when he was expelled from that chamber in 2008. A jury subsequently convicted him of corruption and embezzlement, sending him to jail for a 6-8 year term.
In 2007, the North Carolina State Board of Elections launched an investigation of Wright's campaign finances. The board recommended that Wright be prosecuted, and information revealed in the board's hearings led to calls for Wright to resign. [1] [2]
Wright was indicted by a Wake County grand jury "on five charges of obtaining property by false pretenses and one charge of obstruction of justice" on December 10, 2007. [3]
A House committee found probable cause to proceed on eight counts of misconduct in 2008. [4] Acting on that committee's final recommendations, the full House voted 109-5 to expel Wright on March 20, 2008. He was the first member of the House expelled since Josiah Turner in 1880. [5]
A few weeks later, a jury found him guilty and he was sentenced to 6–8 years imprisonment. Wright was on the primary ballot to get his seat back, but was removed from the ballot as a result of his conviction; the North Carolina Constitution, like those of most other states, does not allow convicted felons to hold office. Wright plans to appeal, claiming that extensive media coverage prompted by his House colleagues' disciplinary action tainted the jury.