A prison release agreement signed by then-Governor Roy Cooper in 2021 is drawing renewed attention as Cooper campaigns for U.S. Senate, after records show several people freed under the deal were later rearrested, including cases connected to Randolph County and the city of Greenville.
The 2021 agreement, which Cooper entered as governor, set release quotas that led to the early release of 34 people convicted of rape, 51 convicted of indecent liberties with a child, five convicted of a sexual offense by a substitute parent or custodian, and 51 inmates who had been serving life sentences.
Among those released was Jimmie Speight, who had been imprisoned on charges including breaking and entering, burglary and three counts of indecent liberties with a minor, and who in 2015 was arrested at age 21 on a statutory rape charge involving a 14-year-old girl he met on social media. Cooper released Speight in March 2021. One month later, Speight allegedly shot into a car driven by Edmond Moore Jr. in Greenville. Moore was killed instantly, and his vehicle crashed, ejecting him onto the street.
Other releases tied to the deal and later returned to Randolph County or rearrested include:
- Joseph Lannarone, released in June 2021 after a sexual exploitation of a child arrest, who was arrested again in Randolph County in July 2024 on a second-degree exploitation of a minor charge tied to distributing child pornography.
- Jason Cuthbertson, released in March 2021, who was arrested in June 2021 on second- and third-degree sexual exploitation of a minor charges after law enforcement seized a stash of child pornography.
- Jerry Tuttle, released on April 28, 2021, who had a 2017 indecent liberties with a child arrest on his record and has faced repeated parole-violation arrests since his release.
- Arthur Wilson, released in June 2021 while serving a life sentence for a 1982 first-degree rape conviction, who returned to Randolph County and was later arrested for a Level 4 DWI.
- Christopher Ballentine, released in June 2021 while serving a sentence for indecent liberties with a 12-year-old girl.
- Shannone McClintick, released in February 2021 while serving a life sentence for a 1984 first-degree rape conviction.
Cooper, asked about the releases by CNN’s Manu Raju on Sunday, September 13, said, “This is something that the state had to do, because the court ordered it. And, I think a lot of people believe, if you ask the plaintiffs, they were very frustrated that more weren’t released.”
The court order followed from the settlement terms Cooper’s administration agreed to; North Carolina was the only state where a sitting governor accepted a release quota in such a settlement without contesting it.
DJ Griffin, a spokesman for Republican Senate candidate Michael Whatley’s campaign, said in a statement to Breitbart News: “Roy Cooper has a dangerous history of releasing rapists, child molesters, and predators from prison early. These heinous criminals should never have been released early from prison, and allowed in many cases to continue committing crimes on unsuspecting North Carolinians. His release of these dangerous predators would be disqualifying for someone running for dogcatcher, let alone the U.S. Senate.”
The exchange comes as Cooper and Whatley run a tightening race for U.S. Senate. Cooper told Raju he expects the margin to land somewhere between one and three points. Recent polling from East Carolina University and the Trafalgar Group shows the gap narrowing from earlier surveys, a shift attributable in part to rising name recognition for Whatley against Cooper, who has held elected office in North Carolina since 1987.
