Hell Freezes Over: RC Soles Disgraced (but Unrepentant)

Updated June 2, 2010

Elected to the North Carolina State Legislature before men walked on the moon, the story of Senator Soles reads like a William Faulkner novel with a little pornography thrown in. Some stories seem comical at first. One political wag recalls a story about the time RC Soles was stopped by the Highway Patrol for speeding and was said to be wearing a dress. But other tales sound much, much more unsavory.

So how did this longtime member of the Senate leadership manage to get himself in such a muddle?

Soles Had Power
Senator RC Soles, a never-married lawyer in the small Columbus County town of Tabor City, survived more than forty years of scandal because he had clout. First elected to the North Carolina House of Representatives in 1968, Soles moved to the Senate in 1976, and he’s been there ever since.

The Wilmington Star explained that Edwin Russ, chairman of the county’s Board of Commissioners, is worried about Soles’ impending retirement. “He's always been just a phone call away,” Russ said of the Columbus County Democrat. “I hate to see him leave because once you lose someone like that, people are saying we're not going to have any pull in the Legislature.”

In fact, Columbus County residents attribute at least $21.5 million in grants in the last two decades to Soles. That's a tidy sum for what has long been one of the poorest counties in North Carolina.

Power came to Soles by virtue of his seniority – and his relationship with Senate President Pro-Tempore Marc Basnight. In 1991, the pair made an agreement to support each other for leadership positions. Back in Tabor City, where Soles is known as “the Boss” or “Godfather”, citizens know that almost two decades later, Soles still has Basnight’s ear. The News & Observer reported on a deal that Soles made, with Basnight’s help, to snatch a new prison away from Sen. Rules Chairman Tony Rand's nearby district. Rand wanted the project to be built in Bladen County. Soles called on his old friend Basnight for assistance, and the three Senate powerhouses met in a conference room adjacent to Soles’ office. "It became a screaming match between me and Senator Rand about where it was going to go," Soles said.

Basnight ultimately decided in Soles' favor, calling one of the governor's top administrators to make the recommendation for the new prison's location.

Neither has the Godfather been shy about using his power to reward clients, contributors, and even himself. Republicans repeatedly campaigned against his special deals, which included allowing a club owner client to keep his liquor permit despite violations, and achieving an exemption from inspections by environmental regulators for a hog farmer supporter. Soles even sought and achieved taxpayer funding for sprucing up the lake on which his home is located. But the multi-millionaire lawyer, who served as chairman of the powerful Senate Commerce Committee and as Senate Democratic Caucus Chair, always had the money and the local vote in Columbus County to win reelection.

The Colcor Affair
How Soles got that big local vote was a matter of controversy. In 1983, the FBI snared Soles in a Columbus County corruption case called Colcor (for “Columbus County Corruption”). The case involved charges of influence peddling, extortion, bribery and vote tampering for current District Attorney Rex Gore in a race against then-District Attorney Mike Easley. But Soles walked away virtually untarnished, and after receiving a “not guilty” verdict, Tabor City supporters threw Soles a party.

Ironically, Soles’ defense attorney in the Colcor case was Joe Cheshire, who’s also known as “the Alan Dershowitz of North Carolina.”  Cheshire would later rely on a retired FBI agent who worked undercover during Colcor as his polygraph expert in the Duke lacrosse case.

Gay Sex and Guns?
Soles contentious relationship with law enforcement is nothing new. He was first arrested in 1971 after a high-speed chase with officers in Spring Lake. Such stories served to give Soles the image of a rogue – but what actually happened behind the gates of the secluded home he named Branchwater may well determine his legacy.

The façade began to unravel in 2009 when news outlets revealed the Senator was spending huge sums of money on former legal clients, and all of them seemed to be teenage boys and young men. Soles admitted buying a house for 17-year-old Allen Strickland. While declining to explain why he paid cash, Soles called it a kind gesture.  But others saw it as hush money after Strickland claimed and then denied a sexual pass by Soles.

The smoldering rumors exploded into a roaring blaze when a second man claimed the Senator had sexually molested him at the age of 15 – and  911 calls for assistance from Soles home became more and more frequent.

Branchwater had seemingly morphed into North Carolina's version of Michael Jackson’s Neverland ranch.

Convicted
In January of 2010, North Carolina’s longest serving legislator found himself facing indictment for assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious bodily injury for shooting former client Thomas Kyle Blackburn, 22, in the back of the leg after a dispute at Soles’ house.  Joe Cheshire was back in the saddle on Soles behalf, claiming self-defense.  But all that changed on February 25, 2010, when Soles took a plea on a misdemeanor charge of assault, sparing himself a possible felony conviction that could have landed him in jail.

Because of the long political history between Soles and District Attorney Gore, the North Carolina Attorney General’s office handled the prosecution. As a penalty, Soles was required only to pay a paltry $1000 fine, igniting criticism that he was still receiving preferential treatment.

The End of the Road
One would think that the longtime senator would quit after such a public humiliation, but despite calls for his resignation from both his constituents and the local media, Soles stubbornly served out the remainder of his term - and under the law, that was permissable.  But perhaps for the first time, Soles came under intense criticism in the waning days of his long political career.

At issue were three bills offered by Soles during the 2010 session of the General Assembly.

The first, SB1341 was designed to sweeten pensions for judges and district attorneys, allowing them to begin collecting their pensions at age 62 if they have at least 20 years of service, as opposed to existing law, under which they begin collecting at age 65 after 24 years of service.  The bill was apparently filed at the request of Soles' longtime ally, District Attorney Rex Gore, who had lost his seat in the May 2010 primary.  The bill would have allowed Gore to begin collecting his pension immediately upon leaving office.

Soles also introduced two bills (SB1340 & SB1408) which would split judicial districts, creating a new judicial seat which would be appointed by the governor (and representing a potential new career opportunity for Democrats, and perhaps, even for Gore).

Together, the three bills amply illustrated that Soles wasn't abandoning his own self-interest or his friends -- but the Senator could hardly have imagined the brouhaha that would ensue. Media outlets and good government advocates, including those from his own district, soundly trounced his actions, leaving the embattled Democratic Senate leadership no choice but to virtually ignore the measures.

In 2010, for the first time in more than 40 years, Soles announced that he would not seek reelection.

Columbus County remains one of the poorest counties in the state.