RSS
|
|
Watson is the man who orchestrated a deal to build a $21.5 million theater in Roanoke Rapids that once bore the name of his business partner, Randy Parton. Parton was subpoenaed in February.
Who federal prosecutors are targeting or what charges they are seeking, if any, is unknown at this time.
Wade Smith, an attorney for the Raleigh-based Tharrington Smith, said he just got the case a few days ago and didn't know all the facts, something he said he will be working on.
The theater has struggled financially since its 2007 opening, prompting city officials to boot Parton - the brother of country star Dolly Parton - from its management and strip his name from the facility. It's now named The Roanoke Rapids Theatre.
The venue was designed to be the cornerstone of an entertainment district that has not yet panned out. A lawsuit filed by a taxpayer advocacy group asks the theater's developers to repay the city, which borrowed $21.5 million for the project in the hopes it would help the area's struggling economy.
Watson left his economic development job with Northeast Partnership, an economic booster group for 13 eastern counties, to become a business partner with Parton in the theater. A state audit of Watson's actions determined that move presented a conflict of interest.
Watson told WRAL-TV in February that he “never had any interest in Randy's company while I was at the Northeast Partnership.”
Watson said he intended to make money with Parton through promotion, performances and land deals.
In its lawsuit, the North Carolina Institute for Constitutional Law seeks to have all contracts voided and is pressing for organizers to pay back startup and other costs. The lawsuit claims Parton, Watson and lawyer Earnest Pearson and their companies schemed to get the city to issue millions of dollars in bonds for construction and startup costs for the project.
Nick Ellis, an attorney for the Raleigh-based Poyner & Spruill who is representing Parton declined to comment on any grand jury proceedings involving Watson or his client.
He did say Parton is back in Tennessee and he continues to represent Parton in a lawsuit filed against the entertainer by the Institute for Constitutional Law on behalf of Roanoke Rapids resident Jim Garrett. Ellis said he believed the lawsuit has no merit. “We've asked his lawyer to dismiss the case and they have refused.”
City Manager Phyllis Lee said this morning she has not spoken to or been asked for information from federal authorities. She said she has not heard anything from City Attorney Gilbert Chichester on the matter.
Comments