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 The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

from 2003 to 2004, representing North Carolina's 1st congressional district. In 2004, Ballance pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit

mail fraud Mail fraud and wire fraud are terms used in the United States to describe the use of a physical or electronic mail system to defraud another, and are federal crimes there. Jurisdiction is claimed by the federal government if the illegal activity ...

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 Windsor is a town in Bertie County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 3,630 at the 2010 census, up from 2,283 in 2000. It is the county seat of Bertie County, which is also the homeland of the Southern Band Tuscarora Tribe that re ...

. He graduated from W. S. Etheridge High School in 1959 and attended

North Carolina Central University North Carolina Central University (NCCU or NC Central) is a public historically black university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by James E. Shepard in affiliation with the Chautauqua movement in 1909, it was supported by private funds from ...

, 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 South Carolina State University (SCSU or SC State) is a public, historically black, land-grant university in Orangeburg, South Carolina, United States. It is the only public, historically black land-grant institution in South Carolina, is a memb ...

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 The North Carolina Senate is the upper chamber of the North Carolina General Assembly, which along with the North Carolina House of Representatives—the lower chamber—comprises the state legislature of North Carolina. The term of office for e ...

; 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

and

Elizabeth City State University Elizabeth City State University (ECSU) is a public historically black university in Elizabeth City, North Carolina. It enrolls nearly 2,500 students in 28 undergraduate programs and 4 graduate programs and is a member-school of the Thurgood Ma ...

. Ballance ran for and was elected to, the

from North Carolina's 1st congressional district in 2002. After election to Congress, he served as the president of the

108th Congress The 108th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives from January 3, 2003 to January 3, 2005, during ...

'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. Ballance's successor, G. K. Butterfield, was elected in a special election on July 20.

Criminal convictions

On September 2, 2004, Ballance was

indicted An indictment ( ) is a formal accusation that a person has committed a crime. In jurisdictions that use the concept of felonies, the most serious criminal offence is a felony; jurisdictions that do not use the felonies concept often use that of ...

on federal charges including money laundering,

, and

conspiracy A conspiracy, also known as a plot, is a secret plan or agreement between persons (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder or treason, especially with political motivation, while keeping their agre ...

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

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 Butner is a town in Granville County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 8,397 as of the 2020 census. Butner was managed by the state of North Carolina from 1947 through 2007. History A bill passed by the North Carolina General ...

, on December 30, 2005. According to the

Federal Bureau of Prisons The Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) is a United States federal law enforcement agency under the Department of Justice that is responsible for the care, custody, and control of incarcerated individuals who have committed federal crimes; that i ...

, he was released from prison in June 2009. His son, Garey Ballance, a state district judge in

Guilford County, North Carolina Guilford County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population is 541,299, making it the third-most populous county in North Carolina. The county seat, and largest municipality, is Greensboro. ...

was also charged. 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.

Personal life and death

Ballance married Bernadine Smallwood in 1969, and together, they had three children. Ballance died on February 22, 2019 from surgical complications at a Raleigh hospital.

References

External links