[Watch the trial in the player above when court begins at approximately 9:30 a.m. Eastern Time.]
Former Person/Caswell County, North Carolina District Attorney Wallace Bradsher is standing trial for an alleged plot where he and another county’s DA hired each other’s wives and paid them salaries without actually requiring them to work. He is also accused of firing a staff member who reported allegations to state authorities.
Bradsher is accused of firing Debra Halbrook, a staff member who had reported him to the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI), claiming that Bradsher was employing Cindy Blitzer, wife of Rockingham County District Attorney Craig Blitzer, and paying her a salary without actually having her work.
On July 25, 2016, the SBI began their probe of the allegations, which were also made by Jason Ramey, a prosecutor who worked for Craig Blitzer, who was accused of hiring Bradsher’s wife Pamela in a similar arrangement.
Bradsher is facing charges of charges including felony conspiracy, obtaining property by false pretense, aiding and abetting obstruction of justice and failure to discharge duties.
Blitzer admitted in an affidavit that he and Bradsher came up with the plan to hire each other’s wives because ethics rules forbade hiring their own relatives Cindy Blitzer was a full-time nursing student at the time, but by being on Bradsher’s office’s payroll she allegedly received a salary of $48,000. Blitzer faced charges of his own and reached a plea agreement. He is expected to testify against Bradsher during the trial.
