Decker begins serving 4-year prison term

RALEIGH (Winston-Salem Journal) - Former state Rep. Michael Decker reported to federal prison yesterday to begin a four-year sentence for accepting a bribe to switch political parties, a deal that helped then-House Speaker Jim Black retain power but also led to his downfall.

Felicia Ponce, a spokeswoman for the Federal Bureau of Prisons, said that Decker was entered into the bureau’s computer system at 12:13 p.m. when he arrived at a prison in Bennettsville, S.C. The prison is about 130 miles south of Decker’s home in Walkertown.

Decker, 62, was sentenced in April to four years in prison on one count of soliciting and accepting $50,000 in cash and campaign contributions and a job for his son to switch from the Republican to Democratic party in early 2003. The start of his prison term already has been delayed once.

Decker’s time could be reduced. Prosecutors asked Judge James Dever III of U.S. District Court to cut his sentence in half because he provided “extraordinary” information that helped bring down Black, who is serving a five-year prison sentence for political corruption.