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Former Rockingham DA Pleads Guilty, Sentencing Delayed

The sentencing of former Rockingham County DA Craig Blitzer has been delayed while he serves as a key witness in other investigations. Photo courtesy Raleigh/Wake County CCBI

A former Rockingham County District Attorney has pleaded guilty in a case involving his wife being hired by a fellow DA.

Craig Blitzer pleaded guilty on Monday to failing to discharge the duty of his office, a misdemeanor.

The News and Record of Greensboro reports the admission of guilt follows a State Bureau of Investigation probe into allegations he and former Person/Caswell County D.A. Wallace Bradsher hired Blitzer's wife Cindy. 

The SBI says the scheme involved collecting 15 months of unearned salary amounting to $48,000.

Blitzer has since resigned from office and repaid the money.

Superior Court Judge Donald Stephens delayed Blitzer's sentencing because Blitzer has agreed to serve as a key witness in three other investigations, including a criminal case against Bradsher. It is not expected that Blitzer will serve any jail time.

Bradsher also resigned from his position, and faces an identical charge.

Neal Charnoff joined 88.5 WFDD as Morning Edition host in 2014. Raised in the Catskill region of upstate New York, he graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1983. Armed with a liberal arts degree, Neal was fully equipped to be a waiter. So he prolonged his arrested development bouncing around New York and L.A. until discovering that people enjoyed listening to his voice on the radio. After a few years doing overnight shifts at a local rock station, Neal spent most of his career at Vermont Public Radio. He began as host of a nightly jazz program, where he was proud to interview many of his idols, including Dave Brubeck and Sonny Rollins. Neal graduated to the news department, where he was the local host for NPR's All Things Considered for 14 years. In addition to news interviews and features, he originated and produced the Weekly Conversation On The Arts, as well as VPR Backstage, which profiled theater productions around the state. He contributed several stories to NPR, including coverage of a devastating ice storm. Neal now sees the value of that liberal arts degree, and approaches life with the knowledge that all subjects and all art forms are connected to each other. Neal and his wife Judy are enjoying exploring North Carolina and points south. They would both be happy to never experience a Vermont winter again.

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