RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A judge on Friday delayed when the key player in an absentee-ballot fraud case in North Carolina must report to federal prison for crimes involving benefits fraud because of the defendant’s health issues.
Leslie McCrae Dowless Jr. of Bladen County was supposed to report to a South Carolina prison by Dec. 1 to serve a six-month term, but his lawyer asked that it be pushed back to April 1 because of his expanding health problems. U.S. District Judge Terrence Boyle granted the extension.
Dowless, who is in his mid-60s, had a stroke in August and learned earlier this month that he may have lung cancer, according to a federal court filing earlier this week. He needs time for follow-up medical appointments to determine his course of care, his lawyer wrote.
Boyle sentenced Dowless in early September after he pleaded guilty in June to obtaining illegal Social Security benefits while concealing payments for political work he performed.
The counts were tangentially related to a broader state probe into unlawful absentee ballot activities for the 2016 general election and the 2018 primary and general elections — activities in which authorities have identified Dowless as a primary figure.
Dowless is charged with 13 state counts in that case, including obstruction of justice, possessing absentee ballots and perjury.
A State Board of Elections inquiry into the 9th Congressional District election in 2018, when Dowless worked for then-Republican candidate Mark Harris,...
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