CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) - Former Charlotte Mayor Patrick Cannon is keeping a low profile since he was arrested in March on corruption charges.
Cannon hasn’t done his weekly radio show since his arrest and resignation and his name has been removed as chief executive officer on the website of E-Z Parking, the company he helped start nearly 30 years ago, The Charlotte Observer reports (https://bit.ly/1mFY1KD ).
Cannon hasn’t disappeared from the city. He has been seen out eating lunch and at his son’s baseball games. City officials say he called to get a copy of his W-2 form because federal agents took Cannon’s original W-2 when they seized financial records and other documents and computers.
Cannon sent a text message to one of the newspaper’s reporters who asked him what he had been doing since his March 26 arrest.
“I so appreciate you reaching out. As much as I would love to chat, legal counsel has advised against it. . Take care and God bless,” Cannon texted back.
Cannon took more than $48,000 in bribes from FBI agents posing as businessmen who wanted to work with North Carolina’s largest city, federal authorities said. He resigned shortly after his arrest.
Prosecutors and Cannon’s lawyer, James Ferguson, said there is nothing new to report on how the case might be resolved.
The newspaper couldn’t reach anyone at E-Z Parking who could comment on his status with the company. Radio One, which broadcast Cannon’s weekly Saturday morning radio show “Aiming with Cannon Live,” hasn’t heard from him since his arrest, said Gary Weiss, regional vice president for Radio One.
One person who talks regularly with the former mayor is Marc Hubbard, a Charlotte club owner and concert promoter who has known Cannon since the two were in elementary school. He said he calls Cannon at least once a week to check up on him and the two can commiserate because Hubbard has his own legal problems - he has pleaded not guilty to charges in Hawaii stemming from a canceled Stevie Wonder concert.
“When it first happened, he was more down in the dumps,” Hubbard said. “He is more upbeat lately. He maintains his innocence. He’s anxious for his day in court.”
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Information from: The Charlotte Observer, https://www.charlotteobserver.com
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