RALEIGH – A local businessman arrested last June on felony tax charges filed by the North Carolina Department of Revenue has pled guilty.

Larry Douglas Cooke, Jr., 43, of 408 East Main Street, Aulander, entered a guilty plea on April 21 to three counts of failure to pay North Carolina tax. The plea was accepted by Superior Court Judge Michael Morgan, presiding over a session of Wake County Superior Court.

Judge Morgan sentenced Cooke to a 45-day prison term. The sentence was suspended and Cooke was placed on unsupervised probation for 12 months. He was also ordered to pay the remaining outstanding balance of restitution totaling $2,208.61, and pay a $1,000.00 fine.

Information presented in court showed that Cooke collected and did not remit North Carolina withholding taxes totaling $1,516 during the period of Jan. 1, 2012 through Dec. 31, 2012.  Cooke also collected and did not remit North Carolina and Bertie County sales taxes totaling $3,979.90, from Jan. 1, 2011 through Feb. 28, 2013.

The charges against Cooke resulted from an investigation by a special agent with the Department’s Criminal Investigations Section in Raleigh.

He was arrested June 14, 2013 and initially charged with two counts of Embezzlement of State Property and one count of Embezzlement of Bertie County tax.

The arrest warrants allege that Cooke aided and abetted Cooke Technology Systems, Inc. to embezzle and misapply and convert to its own use $1,516 in North Carolina withholding tax during the period of Jan. 1, 2012 through Dec. 31, 2012.

Additional warrants allege that Cooke aided and abetted Cooke Technology Systems, Inc. to embezzle and misapply and convert to its own use $2,738.30 in North Carolina sales tax and $1,241.60 in Bertie County tax during the period Jan. 1, 2011 through Feb. 28, 2013.

Cooke was the President of Cooke Technology Systems, Inc., during the period of time in question. At one time, Cooke Technology Systems had an office in the Ahoskie Commons Shopping Center, which is now closed.