Former Easley aide pleads guilty to tax evasion

RALEIGH, NC (AP) - Ruffin Poole pleaded guilty [yesterday] to one count of tax evasion and will cooperate with investigators in return for having other charges dropped.

Poole, 38, was accused of helping move along state permits for coastal housing projects while receiving gifts and making a nearly 28 percent return on $200,000 in investments he made on two of those subdivisions.

Poole was originally indicted on 51 counts in January after federal grand jurors spent much of 2009 calling witnesses for testimony and documents about activities surrounding Easley and his associates. Six counts were added in March.

Easley, a Democrat who left office in January 2009, has not been charged with a crime.