Thursda
Winston-Salem Chronicle
/ / ir *
4989
"The Twin City's Award-Winning Weekly"
50 ce - 41
^ Hury ' ?" VOL. XV, No. 50
Feu?* _ i political activities of local consultant
By TONYA V. SMITH
Chronide Staff Writer
Three of Winston-Salem's Afro
American politicians and a Greensboro
councilman have joined the ranks of oth
ers in major cities across the country
* who have been or are being investigated
by federal agents because of possible
criminal activities. *
Aldermen Vivian S. Burke, Pat
Hairston and Larry W. Womble and
Councilman Earl Jones are being investi
gated by the Federal Bureau of Investi
gation and the Internal Revenue Service
for possible misdealings with consultant
Rodney J. Sumler.
"The areas under investigation for
? potential offenses are money laundering,
tax evasion, mail fraud, violation of the
Hobbs Actr which prohibits extortion or
conspiracy to commit extortion," said
U.S. Attorney Robert H. Edmunds. "The
maximum penalty for money laundering
"is 20 years in jail and a $500,000 fine;
for violation of the Hobbs Act, 20 years
and a $250,000 Fine; mail fraud is a five
year offense and I think tax evasion
probably carries a five- to ten-year
prison term."
Conviction of any one of the pre
ceding felonious crimes would also
mean loss of the rights to vote and run
for public office until restored by judi
cial authorities, Mr. Edmunds said.
Neither the U.S. Attorney nor FBI
officials would comment on particulars
of the investigation. However, Mr. Sum- ,
ler's home at 2515 North Patterson
Avenue and business, Associate Consul
tants Inc. also on North Patterson, were
searched and some of its contents are in
the hands of federal agents. In addition,
the aldermen and other cfty officiaTs
have been questioned and subpoenas
have reportedly been issued for certain
city records. All this information is
being filed for reviewing purposes by a
federal grand jury later this month. The
grand jury will determine whether to
issue indictments.
The search warrant affidavits were
sealed per investigators' request and a
subsequent order by United States Mag
istrate Russell A. Eliason. According to
the order, investigators requested that the
affidavits be sealed because information
they contained could "hamper a grand
jury investigation by (a) making patent
the sources of the government's informa
tion, (b) unfairly tarnishing the reputa
tion of elected officials subject to reelec
tion and as to whom there is probably no
cause to believe at this time that they
have been-active-in- illegal matters^ and?
(c) offering the targets of investigation
the opportunity to exact retribution in
some fashion against those who have
provided information in this investiga
tion."
Mr. Eliason agreed to seal the docu
ments, however, parties wishing them to
be made public can make a motion to
unseal them by August 14 and a hearing
will be scheduled.
Investigators also requested that the
names of those under investigation be
masked on the search warrant.
"The government indicates a con
cern that these persons named . . .
Hairstpn, Womble, Newell (sic) and
Jones could all be subject to unfair infer
ences of guilt and adverse publicity," the
order reads.
Mr. Edmunds said the magistrate
inadvertently substituted Alderman Vir
ginia Newell's name for Mrs. Burke's in
-theorder. =? ? __?
U have a hunch the magistrate
mixed up the names," Mr. Edmunds said.
"The magistrate, when he drafted it
probably substituted one alderman's ?'
Please see page A7
Old hams bid farewefl
By TONYA V. SMITH
Chronicle Staff Writer
Every September Gladys Dandridge Oldham turns 17 again as she ori
fents another class of business students at Winston-Salem Slate University.
Next month she and her husband, Warren, will bid adieu to the school they
: call their aUnjUBttflcafttftoggj^^
I Mrs. Oldham, retiring from her duties as an associate professor in the
university's Division of Business and Economics, has already done her
paperwork but as she said, "1 haven't cleaned out my desk yet because I still
have students out on field assignments with incomplete grades ."
Mr. Oldham will officially resign as WSSU's registrar Sept. 1. He has
worked at the university for 20 years and has been in education for 38 -
years._
"I was trained to be an educator and I love it, that's why I've been in it
for all these years,' " said Mr. Oldham, 63. "I've loved working with students
and watching them come in as freshman and seeing them growing and
maturing. I've also wanted to do all that I could possibly do to help black
people and I was taught that education is the way to do that"
He began his education at Virginia Union University, but the all-con
Please see page A7
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NEWS DIGEST
Compiled From AP Wire
- f. ' ?
Greenville police to conduct racial bias probe
GREENVILLE - The Greenville Police Department will conduct an internal
investigation of allegations of racial discrimination, Mayor Ed Carter said Tuesday.
Carter earlier called for an independent investigation, but decided after a closed
door council meeting to ask Police Chief Jerry Tesmond and Ciry- Manager Greg
Knowles to conduct the internal investigation.
The complaints alleged favoritism toward whites, especially white females; under
representation of blacks in the detective "division, and the assignment of blacks to
patrols in black neighborhoods.
Class of 1964 reunion focuses on civil rights
GREENSBORO - 1&lk during the reunion of the Dudley High School class of
1964 touched on topics ranging from biology classes to football games, but the focus
was the same as it was 25 yean ago: the civil rights movement
"During the time of the marches, we were very active, and a few of our members
were arrested," said Robert Rambert of Greensboro. "We were not scared to
participate in civil rights."
It was the last segregated class before integration brought white students to the
school a year later in 1965.
Defiance regains anti-apartheid group's offensive
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa - Sidestepping an array of state-of-emeTgency
bans, the militant core of the anti-apartheid movement is back on the offensive with
a defiance campaign that has government leaders groping for a response.
Crushing the campaign by force could wreck the government's ongoing initiatives
to improve its international standing. Allowing unchecked civil disobedience could
fuel widespread black activism and a white backlash against the governing National
Party in advance of parliamentary elections next month.
Hickey, NAACP argue over black achievement
ELLICOTT CTTY, Md. - School Superintendent Michael E. Hickey and local
NAACP leaders are facing a war of words over black student achievement, just tine
weeks after both sides pledged greater cooperation. In a strongly worded challenge,
the NAACP lashed out at Hickey in a letter accusing him of using "smear tactics"
and making a "highly inflammatory and unprofessional" written response. T
photo by Mike Cunningham
Enjoying a restful afternoon and anticipating many more In light, of their retire
ment, Warren and Gladys Oldham are climaxing a combined 57 years at WSSU.
NEWS ANALYSIS
T&NYA V. SMITH
- On page one of Gerald H. Long'* "Report of
Expenditures" tallied during his 1988 bid for a seat
on the Forsyth County Board of Commissioners
?Hp-is a record of a payment of $5,726 majfajj
AssociateConaultantsfbr "promotion costs."
Rodney J. Sumler, owner of the political con
al agents who are looldiig into allegations of corrup
tion. conspiracy. money tax evasion and
rrr=Hhr-je-_ j- - ? , ... : L_ ; ... l?rr:
maiitfaua. ? .? ? ^ ?, s
- ,.,lin?niT.ii>r mm*U !!? "T i mi t , n rf. ,r!n n kl*
any aeaimgswnatsoever with Mr. smuer during nis
ClUVipftlgli, ?
"The person I worked with is an employee of
the city" Mr. Long said. "His name is (Wifliam R.)
Bill Ifetum. I paid about S5,000, a little over that? fbr
him to distribute lawn signs, telephone posts signs,
window posters and hand cards telling people to
vote, in the black community.
This wasn't done in the geac^efectkm tat in
the primary last Ag&TOy finance manager, Dal ton
Ruffin. said Itos couldn't take a check payable to
ippgr?^ * m
: A city spokesnian said it is not against regula
tions foremployees to moonlight if they get permis
sion and If it does no* interfere with their present
duties. :
Mr. Sumler said Associate Consultants tikes
freelancers from time-to-time and that "the person
that Jerry Long hired did some of that ?reelanciti|.
? nHt&4mpa0 M??. ? ''V:. v. -1
The Hunt Case: Is justice on trial?
- By ROOSEVELT WILSON
Chronicle Staff Writer
This is the fourth of a series of
articles examining the investiga
tion, conviction and possible retri
al of Darryl E. Hunt for the 1984
murder of Deborah B. Sykes .
As Darryl Eugene Hunt wails
to learn if he will have to stand trial
again for the murder of former
newspaper copy editor Deborah B.
Sykes, the story of Johnny Gray, the
star witness in Mr. Hunt's 1985 con
viction, continues to unfold like an
episode of "Ripley's Believe It or
Not."
The handling of the investiga
tion by the Winston-Salem Police
Department was highly criticized
by the Afro-American community
and was the subject of an investiga
tion by the office of the city manag
er. That review, too, was critical of
the way the investigation was han
dled.
The poor handling of some
aspects of the case also led the
North Carolina Supreme Court to
overturn Mr. Hunt's conviction.
Mr. Gray's fingering Mr. Hunt
as the murderer has been the focus
of much of the attention and the
subject of much of the criticism.
Court documents and other evi
dence show that at times Mr. Gray
made the Winston-Salem Police
Department look like amateurs, and
the police exacerbated the situation
either by withholding questionable
information or trying to explain
some of Mr. Gray's actions for the
record.
Ms. Sykes, who was raped and
suffered multiple stab wounds, was
white, prompting the Afro-Ameri
can community to view the use of
the questionable evidence to con
vict Mr. Hunt, an Afro-Amcncan,
as a racial retaliation.
The Rev. Carlton A.G. Evcrs
lcy, pastor of Dellabrook Presbyte
rian Church and spokesman for the
Darryl Hunt Defense Fund Com
mittee, characterizes it as a "white
dominated criminal justice system
snatching any ol' boy to satisfy a
societal need for vengeance for a
brutal crime."
To say Mr. Gray was of ques
tionable character would be gener
ous in the eyes of many. Police
records and court documents show
many contradictions and evidence
of dishonesty on Mr. Gray's part,
yet his testimony was the glue that
held together a shaky case for Dis
trict Attorney Donald K. Tisdale.
After positively identifying
Terry Thomas as the murderer only
to learn that Mr. Thomas was in jail
on the day Ms. Sykes was mur
dered, Mr. Gray then selected Mr.
Please see page A9
Ethiopia
Congressman Leland
WASHINGTON (AP) ? Well-wishers around the country lit up the tele
phones in Rep. Mickey Leland's office Wednesday as his staff spent a third
day waiting for word about the missing congressman.
Leland, a Houston Democrat and chairman of the House $elect Commit
tee on Hunger, disappeared Monday after his twin-engine plane took off
from Addis Ababa on its way to a refugee camp on Ethiopia's border with
Sudan, about 480 miles away.
"We're still waiting, anxiously," legislative assistant James Williams told
a caller. "We're waiting for him to call us up and ask us for his messages.*1
Inside Leland's personal office at the Raybum House Office Building,
spokeswoman Alma Newsom sat at his desk conducting a string of inter
views that she said keeps her mind off the grim possibilities.
"Everything is in their favor at this point The weather is temperate, it's
not too hot or cold, and these planes do carry adequate provisions. They're
not in any immediate danger on the ground," said Ms. Newsom, a friend of
Leland's since their college days.
"We feel he's just landed, stranded and waiting to get in touch with us,"
Please see page A9
missing in
in mi i ? ?lira ? J?? ? iil?
Congressman Mickey Leland: Friends are awaiting word.