CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Former Charlotte Mayor Patrick Cannon filed to run for Charlotte City Council Friday, Mecklenburg County elections officials said, marking his return to politics after serving 22 months in prison for bribery.
Cannon filed to run for an at-large City Council seat, WCNC Charlotte learned. He resigned from his position as mayor in 2014 after he was caught on camera admitting to taking a series of bribes totaling around $50,000 from undercover FBI agents. He was arrested in March of 2014, just 114 days into his term as mayor.
He accepted a plea agreement in 2014 and was sentenced to 44 months in federal prison. Cannon was initially under investigation for public corruption; however, the sentence was part of a plea deal in which he pleaded guilty to one count of honest services wire fraud, which carried a potential sentence of up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
He was released after 22 months.
Cannon issued a statement Friday, saying in part he wants to start "a new beginning" with a chance for redemption.
"Due to a mistake made by me that would cause me to voluntarily resign my Mayoral post 8 years ago and be sentenced for Honest Services Wire Fraud, business remained unfinished for the citizens of Charlotte under my leadership. To date I still take responsibility for my actions then, remaining sorry for those shortcomings, and continue to ask for forgiveness of you and our community in its totality. A chance for redemption is all I can ask for and pray that you might provide it in a fall that was taken, with the hope of getting up and starting a new beginning with your support."
During his 2014 trial, Cannon said he believed the agents were developers wanting his help getting into Charlotte's hot real estate market. He was released from prison in September of 2016. Part of his 44-month sentence was reduced after he completed an alcohol treatment program. He was also ordered to pay a $10,000 fine.
Within a month of his trial, Cannon was back in court where he plead guilty to voter fraud for voting in the November election. Cannon was not eligible to vote because of his felony sentence. While he was not given any extra jail time for that conviction, he was placed under house arrest, where he remained until being transported to a federal facility in West Virginia later that month.
On Friday, Michael Dickerson, the director of elections for Mecklenburg County, confirmed that Cannon is now eligible to both vote and seek public office in North Carolina.
"In North Carolina, once your rights as a citizen have been restored, you're allowed to file for office, run for office and vote," Dickerson said. "He met the qualifications and filed as a registered Democrat and is now filed today as a candidate for City Council at-large on the Democratic side.
In 2017, Cannon started hosting a radio show in Charlotte and he gave political hopefuls advice about how to run for office during a forum hosted by the Black Political Caucus. Cannon said he had no plans to seek public office at the time but left the door open for a return to politics.
Dr. Michael Bitzer, a political science professor at Catawba College, said in 2017 that a Cannon comeback wouldn't be easy.
"It would be hard for me to envision how Patrick Cannon would come back from acknowledging conviction but still saying I want to serve," Bitzer said. "I think the voters would probably say, 'no thank you.'"
Inside the courtroom
How WCNC's Rad Berky broke the news of Patrick Cannon's arrest
In 2014, WCNC Charlotte reporter Rad Berky was the only reporter at the courthouse when Cannon was charged.
"We heard that morning that there was going to be an arrest of a major political figure in town. But we had no idea who it would be, or why," Berky, now retired, recalled to WCNC Charlotte's Jane Monreal Friday. "So I thought, let's just take a chance, give me a photographer, I'll go down to the courthouse and see who shows up, which is what we did."
A short time later, their tip paid off.
"We got there about one o'clock or so just to be ready," he continued. "Someone in the courthouse came out and said, 'You know, sometimes these things start early.' That I assumed was some kind of code telling me go inside now, which we did."
Berky went inside without his photographer, who remained outside because of a ban on cameras in federal courtrooms.
"And I had no idea when I went into the courtroom, who was going to be in there. The door opens. I sit down. It's Patrick Cannon," Berky continued. "The court hearing is just about over. The judge tells him we're going to release you on bond."
Berky was the only reporter in the courtroom but, even so, had only heard a portion of the hearing.
"I went running outside to tell the photographer to get ready. And there's only one way in and out of that courtroom."
When Cannon walked out of the courthouse, Berky and his photographer were ready.
"I immediately walked over to him with the camera," Berky recalled. "And he knew I was filming, obviously. And I asked him what is your reaction to being charged? At that point, I had no idea what the charges were because they had not said them out loud [in court]."
It wasn't until later that Berky, and other reporters, would learn the details of the allegations against Cannon, who was soon to resign as mayor.
"But it was just all of a sudden: the mayor walking out under federal charge, and I'm the only one there asking the questions."
Berky retired from WCNC Charlotte in March 2020/
Flashpoint is a weekly in-depth look at politics in Charlotte, North Carolina, South Carolina, and beyond with host Ben Thompson. Listen to the podcast weekly.
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