District Attorney finds insufficient evidence to prosecute Ocean Isle Beach mayor

OCEAN ISLE BEACH, N.C. (WECT) - District Attorney Jon David has found that there is insufficient evidence to prosecute Ocean Isle Beach mayor Debbie Sloan Smith.

The DA’s Office received a nearly 200-page report from the Office of the State Auditor in January of 202 that alleged Smith used her role as mayor to derive a direct benefit from the Town by purchasing the old police department on West 3rd Street in 2018 and used inside information not available to the public for personal gain.

The district attorney requested an independent investigation by the State Bureau of Investigation to determine if any statutes had been violated from the real estate deal in question.

The office also requested the Conference of District Attorneys to review the investigation and determine whether charges should be filed against Smith.

“The Conference agreed to perform an independent analysis and render a charging recommendation,” The District Attorney wrote in a recent release. Having received that opinion and recommendation from the Conference (Attached), I concur that there is insufficient evidence to warrant prosecution of Mayor Smith. As stated in the letter from the Conference, ‘The focus of a prosecutor must always be to administer the criminal laws of North Carolina fairly and impartially regardless of the individuals involved. Without question, the acquisition of the Town property by Smith’s real estate company could have been handled in a more professional manner. However, this fact alone does not merit the initiation of any additional criminal proceedings.’”

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