Newspapers / Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.) / April 16, 1992, edition 1 / Page 2
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Sumler in the hot tub / ' ? Continued from page A1 and defense attorneys will begin their presentations when court : resumes on April 27. *lhe govern- \ ment charges tliat the three were involved in a conspiracy to pressure business executives to donate money to certain charities in exchange for a favorable vote on issues that came before the board of aldermen. The government is also attempting to show that in many cases the charities never received money solicited on their behalf. Sumlcr's customary method of dealing in cash only, and loose record-keeping by some of the charities has made the government's work more difficult The little blue folder On August 1, 1989, when FBI and IRS agents conducted a five hour search of Sumler's home on. 2515 Patterson Avenue and his office on 2523 Patterson Avenue, they noticed he was holding a blue folder. The agents were looking for financial books ancH^cords for PATH, Inc., AC Cultural and Edu cational rommissirm, Inr and "I asked to look at the folder," said Guerrini, "and he requested that we not take it because i t~~ applied to expenditures for his - wife's house in Eden." When the agent insisted on seeing the folder, he saw that it contained "numerous expenditures dated 1988, and invoices in the name of PATH and AC Cultural." Much of the evidence used against Sumler in the trial came from that folder. ^ATH donations cashed Guerrini testified that five checks totaling $14,000 made out to PATH, Inc., were cashed by Sumler either on the same day received or within three days. None of the dona lions, which came from business executives Lester Burnette, Edwin Shelton, Gerry Long, and trom RJ. Reynolds Tobacco, was deposited. Expenditures linked The jury will have to decide how much weight to give the corre lation of donations to PATH, Inc. (People Are Treated Human) and Sumler's cash expenditures. PATH was often described by Sumler as Hairs ion's favorite charity; a group that helped people who were down and-out. The prosecution says that a receipt dated September 15, 1988 and made out to PATH. Inc. actually paid for bathroonr renovations to Sumler's home, including a whirlpool tub, gold trim, a lavorato ry, closet, and black faucet with gold stripes. A receipt dated December 6, 1988, for $1472 cash is made out to PATH, Inc. for marble tiles installed in Sumler's house. A cash receipt dated December 7, 1988Jfor $2420 worth of carpet is made out to AC Cnlmrel fftmmifr , sion. A $700 cash receipt made out the same week to PATH, Inc. is for zations shared office space at Sum ler's business address. The investigation showed that Sumler and, to a lesser extent, Hairston, suggested to Sumler's business clients that they should make donations to PATH, Inc. to help renovate a house on Cunning ham Street. Naegele Outdoor Advertising donated the house to PATH. Sumler and Hairston told business clients that the house would be used for unwed mothers and women in distress. Under cross examination Sum ler's attorney, John Dusenbury, attempted to show that Sumler's usual method of conducting finan cial affairs for his businessana home was in cash, and that he fre quently received large amounts of money from clients including a February, 1987 $10,000 bonus from Naegele, $20,000 from Naegele for lobbying work, and $25,000 from 3-M Outdoor Advertising for ser vices rendered. Womble's two mistakes Throughout the four-week trial, testimony about two checks has haunted Larry Womble. On March 16, 1988, he deposited into his own account a $1250 check from Larco Construction made payable to him. The check was supposed to go to N.C. BEMO (Black Elected Munic ipal Officials). Guerrini testified that BEMO bank records do not indicate any correlating deposits. On June 22, 1988, Womble deposited in$> his own account a $1000 check from Abyss Diversi fied after he had discussed the [bogus] company's zoning nmtft lfp*M3ina~nurry Sumler's fanner secretary, Cas 531 Kit a jlalCS, ICoUlICU ul2tl ailw tflC August 1, 1989 FBI search of Sum ler's home and office, he gave her handwritten notes to type. The notes were minutes of board meetings of PATH, Inc. for 1985-1988, A.C. Cultural and Educational Commis sion, Inc. for 1983-1988, and Atra mento Casa (formerly the Dungeon Club) for 1983-1988. He gave them to her off-and-on throughout the day and requested that she stay late that night to finish typing them. Some of the handwritten notes were on whife paper, some on yellow paper, and some were wrinkled, she testified. 111 bribed andobrtnjction or ckeuser acts. ABfourdittH wSSm^ mm SWsS Acts that 61 ^ioother irftbout his consent, or through i ?#er of official position), to the case of the vXvNvS:-: 18 M Sv?s?N?.vw p? lHli Ml I? HWilil East Ward holds forum for local candidates <**??*? va Brown, Henry Jones, Walter Marshall, Annette Wilson, and David Thompkins; District Court Judge candidates Nancy Wooten and Ron Spivey; State House Rep Probably the most anticipated facet of the forum was thai in which the six school board candidates pre sented themselves and their plat forms to the community. The agree- . said the forum was still very infor mative. " I agreed with some and I disagreed with some/ she said. "And being a retired teacher, I know for a. fact, that some of the And I have known that if we got four or five, we were doing well. But we had between 45 and SO peo ple there, and I think for a forum of this kind, it was highly successful," continued Newell. During the evening, a sugges tion that more meetings for resi dents be held to discuss issues of concern in the African*Ame*ican community, was well received by all. The next meeting will be held at 7 p.m. on April 30 at the Les Arbres Club on New Walkertown Road. Ron Splvay and Nancy Wooton, candidates for District Court Judge, wars also on hand lor tha forum. resentafives Annie Kennedy (66th District) and Warren Oldham (67th district) who was represented by George Green; State Senate candi dates for the 20th District, Ann Esch and Anders Nilsson; U.S. Congress candidate for the 12th dis trict Larry Little, who was repre sented by th**ev. Carkon A.G. Eversley; and candidates for North Carolina Governor, Lacy Thorn burg, who was represented by Bernard Allen Jr. in. During the forum, each of the candidates and representatives had the-opportunity to present their plat forms, and answer questions from the audience. Ruth Carter, coordinator of the five precincts in the East Ward, which sponsored the event, said the purpose of the forum was mainly to let the public know who the candi dates are. "As you know, we've got six (African-American) people running for the school board, and I'm sure that we, in this community, know all of them," she said. "But there are some people that don't know them, and we want them to know who they are. And it was important for them to come out and find out what their issues are, and what they're all about, and the things that they can do to help the black community." ing sentiment among many of the audience members and panelists, was that the forum was the most successful and educational of the many others that have been held recently. - . nI have been in politics since 1972, and in the black community, this is the first time I've seen this cohesiveness and togetherness ? for one accord," said school board can didate, Beaufort Bailey. Walter Marshall, also a candi date for the school board, also thought the forum was a success. However, he thought more time should have been reserved for the school board panelists. "I just think that we didn't have time to answer questions from participants in the audience," he said. Despite the lack of time for an audience question and answer session for the school board candi dates, audience member Anne Motz statements that they made are true, and that there's a lot of work that really needs to be done and a lot of discussion that we need to have to make black people aware of the problems, and some solu tions that they can participate in to make it a better system/ she continued. Overall, however, the forum was considered a success. "I thought the meeting was very, very successful," said Carter. "We did hear some issues that I felt needed to be answered." Virginia Newell, alderman of the East Ward, agreed. "I thought it was highly successful for the pur pose for which it was put together. We mainly wanted to hear from our education candidates and they came in force," she said. "I was extremely pleased with the residents and the reason being, we are dealing with the East Ward. JEROMES Just Arrived!!! Boy's Husky Suits Your Accounts Welcomed 520 N. LIBERTY ? draperies Sear*10" .55KT 722-7474! Opu 1:18 e?hi. to S:30 p.m. It JT\ X, BUILDING TOMORROW TOGETHER : EDUCATION "The more you care the more it shows." Paul E. Parker, Asst. Dean of Engineering University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign "As an educator, I believe we must convince today's students that we care and we must demon strate that care by getting involved beyond the classroom." Paul Parker is involved. One example is his Illinois Minority Pre-College Internship (IMPRINT) program where employers like General Motors agree to employ minority engi neering pre-freshman each summer. At General Motors our commitment to build world class cars and trucks means investing in the education of our youth by supporting programs such as Dean Pirker's and providing scholarships. R>r us, reaching out td the people ? -f -V olet Pontiac mobile Buick JMC Truck ? ^ ? who's driving.
Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.)
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April 16, 1992, edition 1
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