WINSTON-SALEM -- Two former officials with the city of Winston-Salem have been indicted by a federal grand jury.
The indictments, handed down Tuesday, said the two men took money from the housing authority and then lied to federal investigators about it.
The men are identified as Ernest Harold Pitt, the former chair of the Winston-Salem Housing Authority Board of Directors, and James Reid Lawrence, former executive director of the housing authority.
The 10-count indictment says Pitt, Lawrence and another man, Thomas Parrish Trollinger, defrauded the housing authority out of $414,000.
Investigators said that money was used to buy 23 lots at the Lansing Ridge subdivision, a development Pitt and Trollinger managed.
News 14 Carolina's Jonathan Lowe has more on the indictments of two Winston-Salem housing officials.
They're accused of receiving $84,000 each as a result of that land purchase.
A spokesman with the U.S. Attorney's office prosecuting the case said these men are facing serious charges.
“They used their positions and their control over these agencies to commit those agencies to a transaction without the approval of the board of commissioners and the board of directors of these agencies, and the reason they apparently did that was in order to gain," spokesman Lynne Klauer said.
Pitt and Trollinger are facing several charges, including mail fraud and money laundering. If convicted, they face a maximum of 55 years in prison and a $250,000.
Federal officials weren't willing to give the men's attorney information. They said that will be available after they make a first court appearance.