NewsChannel 36

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Newly elected N.C. Rep. Nick Mackey no longer faces prosecution over a charge of failing to turn over business documents in connection with a nearly $100,000 civil judgment against him.

Mecklenburg Assistant District Attorney Bruce Lillie dismissed the misdemeanor charge Wednesday after Mackey turned over the information.

“The statute has now been complied with,” Lillie told the Observer. “Mr. Mackey provided me with proof he has handed the information over to the attorneys of his landlord. I've confirmed that with them.”

The misdemeanor charge was related to a July judgment against Mackey's law firm for unpaid rent, attorney fees, interest and other costs that now total $101,402, according to court documents.

“I'm glad this was straightened out quickly,” Mackey told the Observer on Wednesday.

Mackey said last week he had been asked to turn over the names of the owners of his law firm, any property owned by the law firm and any debts owed to the law firm. The landlord, 212 South Tryon Limited Partnership, is seeking the information in an attempt to get any money Mackey's law firm has to pay off the judgment.

Mackey said Wednesday he sent the information by certified mail to the Mecklenburg County Sheriff's Office in early December to be turned over to his landlord. The mail was not accepted and returned, he said.

A sheriff's spokeswoman said last week the office had not received the information from Mackey.

Mackey said he showed Lillie the returned certified mail at the prosecutor's office Monday afternoon. He said he gave the requested information to his landlord's attorneys Tuesday.

Mackey's landlord sued his law firm last March. The lawsuit alleged that Mackey had fallen behind on his rent in 2007 and missed multiple payments in 2008.

Mackey's rent was $6,422 a month for offices in the Johnston Building at 212 S. Tryon St., according to court documents.

Mackey told the Observer at the time that he wasn't able to pay rent for the first three months of 2008 because he had rented some of his space to other businesses that later moved out.

Mackey, who signed the lease agreement in 2005, said he'd paid his rent the entire time he'd been there except for three months.

He told the Observer last week that he intends to pay off the debt.

“We'll get it worked out,” he said. “It's no big deal.”

Mackey, a Charlotte lawyer and Democrat, in November defeated Republican Dempsey Miller of Huntersville to represent N.C. House District 99. He unseated six-term incumbent Drew Saunders in the Democratic primary.

Mackey has sparked controversy since 2007 when he sought to replace outgoing Sheriff Jim Pendergraph. He won the local Democratic Party's vote for the post, but following protests, the state Democratic Party threw out the results because voting precincts had been improperly organized.

Questions surfaced about Mackey's background during his campaign for sheriff. There were allegations that he lied about hours he worked as a Charlotte-Mecklenburg police sergeant and that he resigned from the force in 2003 while facing possible firing.

Mackey denied any wrongdoing.

Last year, Mackey was convicted of contempt of court for failing to show up for a client's trial. Mackey appealed. The case is pending.