CHARLOTTE CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY CHARGED WITH OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE AND WITNESS TAMPERING

CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA ---- Acting United States Attorney Kevin F. McDonald of the District of South Carolina stated today that Tolley A. Kennon,III, a criminal defense attorney practicing in Charlotte, North Carolina, was charged in six -count Bill of Indictment with obstruction of justice and witness tampering.

The sealed Bill of Indictment was handed down by a grand jury sitting in Charlotte on March 19, 2008. The Bill of Indictment (a copy of which is attached) was unsealed on April 2, 2008, and charges that Kennon attempted to obstruct justice or tamper with the testimony of prospective witnesses in three separate criminal prosecutions in the Western District of North Carolina. In each of those three cases, Kennon had been appointed by the court to represent criminal defendants charged in federal court.

The maximum penalty Kennon could receive on each of the six counts is a term of imprisonment for 10 years and a fine of $250,000.00.

Mr. McDonald stated that the case was investigated by agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department. Because Kennon practices law in the Western District of North Carolina, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of North Carolina was recused in accordance with established Department of Justice policy. The case will be prosecuted in the Western District of North Carolina by Assistant United States Attorneys Mark C. Moore and William Witherspoon of the Columbia office of the United States Attorney for the District of South Carolina.

Kennon is scheduled to appear before United States Magistrate Judge David C. Keesler for arraignment in Charlotte at 11:00 AM on Thursday, April 10, 2008.

Mr. McDonald stated that all charges in the Bill of Indictment are merely accusations and that all defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.