Former Easley Aide Released From Halfway House

A man who served as a top aide to former North Carolina Gov. Mike Easley has finished a federal sentence for tax evasion. WRAL-TV reports that Ruffin Poole was released Friday from a halfway house in the Raleigh area. Poole returned to North Carolina in April after serving several months at a minimum-security prison in Pensacola, Florida . Poole received a one-year and one-day sentence for pleading guilty before his trial was to begin on charges related to public corruption. The charge stemmed from a $30,000 coastal investment Poole made and failed to report in 2005. It was disclosed during a two-year federal investigation into Easley's dealings with friends and campaign contributors while in office.