FORMER OFFICIAL PLEADS GUILTY

Marijuana use blamed for role in bribery and corruption

A0A0A0A0 CHARLOTTE -- Former Mecklenburg County Elections Director Bill
Culp has
pleaded guilty to bribery and corruption charges and blamed marijuana use
that he says began when he was a serviceman in Vietnam.

A0A0A0A0 Culp, 54, who was the county elections director for 28 years
until his
retirement in February, pleaded guilty Thursday at his first appearance in
U.S. District Court to charges of conspiracy to commit bribery, public
corruption and mail fraud. He was freed on $100,000 bond and agreed to
undergo counseling for his marijuana use.

A0A0A0A0 If a federal judge accepts the plea agreement in Culp's case,
he will
serve 30 months in federal prison and must pay full restitution.

A0A0A0A0 The pleas by Culp on Thursday and by two other men earlier this
week
culminated an investigation by the FBI and a federal grand jury that began
early this year and led to the men's indictments.

A0A0A0A0 A voting machine salesman and repairman admitted earlier this
week that
they gave Culp more than $134,000 since 1990 in bribes and kickbacks as
rewards for county business. Ed O'Day, 63, of Columbia, S.C., and Gene
Barnes, 64, of Stuarts Draft, Va., entered guilty pleas Tuesday.

A0A0A0A0 They and Culp will be sentenced later this summer, the U.S.
Attorney's
Office said.

A0A0A0A0 Culp pleaded guilty to accepting 122 bribes from O'Day and
Barnes and
to three counts of mail fraud stemming from his operation of the Mecklenburg
Elections Tabulation Service, which provided news organizations with
unofficial election night results. He allegedly double-billed the county and
news outlets, pocketing $21,131 between December 1994, and January 1998.

A0A0A0A0 O'Day is president of United American Election Supply Co. and
was also
an independent sales representative for MicroVote of Indianapolis. He sold
Mecklenburg County more than $6 million in voting machines since 1994.

A0A0A0A0 Barnes, who serviced the county's voting machines for more than
30
years, raised his prices so Culp could get a kickback of $25 per machine
repaired, authorities alleged.

Checked-by: Melodi Cornett