GEORGE E. B. HOLDING
CONTACT: 919/856-4530
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
MONDAY - MAY 7, 2007
FORMER LOTTERY COMMISSIONER SENTENCED TO
48 MONTHS IMPRISONMENT FOR MAIL FRAUD
RALEIGH - United States Attorney George E. B. Holding announced that in federal court here today United States District Judge James C. Dever, III, sentenced KEVIN GEDDINGS, of St. Augustine, Florida, to 48 months in prison, 2 years supervised release, and a $25,000 fine.
United States Attorney George E. B. Holding stated, “KEVIN GEDDINGS is going to prison for 48 months. This is a strong signal that North Carolinians expect clean government. Public servants must act honestly and with integrity. It is a privilege to serve North Carolina–not an opportunity to sell influence and access. The People of North Carolina should rest assured that your public officials will always be held to the highest standards. If a public official breaks the law, the prosecutors and the Courts will hold them accountable. This is my promise.”
GEDDINGS was convicted after a jury found him guilty on October 12, 2006 of honest services mail fraud. From February 2001 to September 2005, GEDDINGS received revenue in the amount of $228,796.18 from Scientific Games International, Inc. (“Scientific Games”), a corporation operating state lotteries and a bidder for the North Carolina Education Lottery. As a candidate for appointment to the North Carolina Lottery Commission, and as a Commissioner on the Lottery Commission, GEDDINGS failed to disclose his conflict of interest arising from his nearly five year financial relationship with Scientific Games relating to state lotteries in South Carolina, Tennessee and Oklahoma in addition to North Carolina.
Investigation of this case was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division, the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, and the United States Attorney’s Office, in cooperation with the Wake County District Attorney’s Office.
Other agencies that deserve to be mentioned for their cooperation in the investigation and trial include the North Carolina Education Lottery Commission, the North Carolina Board of Ethics, and the Office of the Governor. Scientific Games, Inc., and its attorneys were also very cooperative in making information and witnesses available through out the course of the investigation and trial.
First Assistant U.S. Attorney John Stuart Bruce and Assistant United States Attorney Dennis Duffy handled the case for the government.
News releases are available on the U. S. Attorney’s web page at www.usdoj.gov/usao/nce within 48 hours of release.
