Frank Ballance
Frank W. Ballance, Jr. (born February 15, 1942), American politician, was a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from 2002 to 2004, representing the 1st District of North Carolina
Background
Ballance was born in Windsor, North Carolina; he graduated from W.S. Etheridge High School in 1959 and attended North Carolina Central University, earning a bachelor's degree in 1963 and a law degree in 1965. After receiving his law degree, briefly served as a faculty member of the South Carolina State College School of Law before entering private practice in 1966. He served in the North Carolina National Guard reserves from 1968 to 1971 and married Bernadine Smallwood in 1969; they have three children.
Political Career
Ballance was first elected to the state legislature in 1983 and served in the North Carolina House of Representatives until 1986. In 1988, he was elected to the North Carolina Senate; that same year, he had served as chair of the Warren County chapter of the NAACP. Ballance served in the state legislature until 2002, including as deputy president pro tempore from 1997 to 2002. He also served on the Board of Trustees for both North Carolina Central University and Elizabeth City State University.
Ballance ran for, and was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 2002. After election to Congress, he served as the president of the 108th Congress's Democratic Freshman Class. Ballance served on the House Agriculture Committee and the House Small Business Committee.
On June 8, 2004, Ballance resigned from his seat due to health issues after being diagnosed with myasthenia gravis. [1] Ballance's successor, G. K. Butterfield, was elected in a special election on July 20.
Criminal Convictions
On September 2, 2004, Ballance was indicted on federal charges including, money laundering, mail fraud, and conspiracy to commit mail fraud with his son, Garey Ballance, a state district judge in Warren County, North Carolina. Garey Ballance is also charged in the indictment with income tax evasion. The charges arose after allegations were made that the elder Ballance took $2.3 million in state funds he secured as a State Senator for the John A. Hyman Memorial Youth Foundation and used the cash for the enrichment of himself, his family, and his church.
On November 9, 2004, a plea agreement was reached under which Ballance pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and money laundering. In January, 2005, he was disbarred from the practice of law in the state of North Carolina. On October 12, 2005, he was sentenced to four years in prison, two years supervised release, and fined $10,000. He began serving his sentence at the medium-security federal prison in Butner, North Carolina on December 30, 2005. According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, he is expected to be released from prison in June, 2009.