Frank Ballance

Frank Winston Ballance Jr. (February 15, 1942 – February 22, 2019) was an American politician and attorney who was a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from 2003 to 2004, representing North Carolina's 1st congressional district.

Frank Ballance
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from North Carolina's 1st district
In office
January 3, 2003 – June 8, 2004
Preceded byEva Clayton
Succeeded byG. K. Butterfield
Member of the North Carolina State Senate
In office
1989–2003
Member of the North Carolina House of Representatives
In office
1983–1989
Personal details
Born
Frank Winston Ballance Jr.

(1942-02-15)February 15, 1942
Winston-Salem, North Carolina, U.S.
DiedFebruary 22, 2019(2019-02-22) (aged 77)
Raleigh, North Carolina, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse(s)Bernadine Balance
Children3
Military service
Allegiance North Carolina
Branch/serviceNorth Carolina National Guard
Years of service1968–1971

In 2004, Ballance pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and money laundering, and was sentenced to four years in prison, two years supervised release, and fined $10,000.

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, Ballance briefly served as a faculty member of the South Carolina State University School of Law before entering private practice in 1966. He served in the North Carolina National Guard Reserve from 1968 to 1971.

Political career

Ballance was first elected to the House of the state legislature in 1983 and served until 1986. In 1988, he was elected to the North Carolina Senate; that same year, he had served as chair of the Guilford County chapter of the NAACP. Ballance served in the state senate until 2002, including as deputy president pro tempore from 1997 to 2002. He was appointed to 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 from North Carolina's 1st congressional district 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.[2]

Criminal convictions

On September 2, 2004, Ballance was indicted on federal charges including money laundering, mail fraud, and conspiracy to commit mail fraud. The charges arose after allegations were made that 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 Frank 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.[3] 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 was released from prison in June 2009.[4]

His son, Garey Ballance, a state district judge in Guilford County, North Carolina was also charged.[5] Garey Ballance was also charged in the indictment with income tax evasion. Garrey Balance was convicted, served in prison and was disqualified from becoming a judge again.[6]

Personal life and death

He married Bernadine Smallwood in 1969; they have three children. Ballance died on February 22, 2019 from surgical complications at a Raleigh hospital.[7][8]

See also

References
  1. "Ballance Cites Health Reasons For Retirement From Congress". Archived from the original on June 17, 2004. Retrieved 2004-06-10.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link), WRAL.com, 2004-06-08
  2. G.K. Butterfield Elected To Fill Ballance's Term, WRAL.com, 2004-07-21.
  3. Robertson, Gary D. (13 April 2009). "Ex-congressman serving prison time at home". WRAL.com. Associated Press. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  4. WRAL (22 June 2009). "Ballance completes federal sentence :: WRAL.com". Retrieved 3 April 2017.
  5. http://www.abclocal.go.com Archived 2008-08-08 at the Wayback Machine, October 12, 2005, "Former Congressman Frank Ballamce Sentenced" by AP and Eyewitness News". Archived from the original on January 20, 2013. Retrieved June 5, 2012.
  6. WRAL (4 May 2007). "High Court: Ballance Can't Retake Bench :: WRAL.com". Retrieved 3 April 2017.
  7. "Former NC lawmaker and ENC Congressman dies". WITN. February 22, 2019. Retrieved February 23, 2019.
  8. "Frank Ballance, former NC lawmaker and congressman, dies at 77". WRAL. February 26, 2019.
U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by
Eva M. Clayton		 Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from North Carolina's 1st congressional district
2003–2004		 Succeeded by
G. K. Butterfield
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