ASHEVILLE - A former lieutenant governor candidate, a long-time top county elected official and an influential racial justice scholar are asking a federal judge for leniency in the sentencing of ex-county Commissioner Ellen Frost, who was convicted of corruption.
The dozen letters from former lieutenant governor candidate Terry Van Duyn, ex-Buncombe County Board of Commissioners Chair David Gantt, UNC Asheville political science professor emeritus Dwight Mullen and others were submitted by Frost s attorney in advance of her April 28 sentencing by U.S. District Court Judge Robert Conrad in Asheville. Ellen Frost ran for the right reasons and worked hard to make Buncombe County a better place. I hope during your deliberations, you will find it possible to take into consideration the good she did while serving Buncombe County, said Van Duyn, who served seven years as a Democratic North Carolina state senator from Buncombe.