Police employee gets visa-related fraud charges dropped | Consequences for election board members counting dead voters? | $150k COVID vaccine exemption settlement

No. 165 — Feb. 22-Feb. 28, 2026

Mar 08, 2026

If you’re reading this newsletter, there’s a good chance you’re fairly involved in the political process, participated in the week’s primary election, and already are aware of the results, but we’ll start off with a few selections from the results and links if you’d like to look up more.

In Raleigh, UNC Health Rex has agreed to a $150k settlement with a remote, non-patient facing employee who was fired after being denied a religious exemption to the COVID-19 vaccine.

A state trooper was killed by a wrong-way driver with a history of DWIs on a Durham highway.

An undercover underage sex sting by the Holly Springs police nabbed a former Rolesville High teacher, the school claims no involvement, but a source tells us he lost his position at the school due to a similar incident.

A leftist activist and candidate from Raleigh made national news when he disrupted a Senate hearing so hard his arm broke.

A previously-reported on Siler City police employee charged with visa-related fraud has gotten the charges dismissed after one of the immigrant “victims” was charged with sex offense crimes and is believed to have fled the country.

In an update from the 2024 election, an administrative judge has ordered the State Board of Elections to hold a hearing on a complaint over the Democrats on the Wake County Board of Elections who chose to defy state law in 2024 by counting the ballots of early voters who died before election day.

Primary Election Results

Former governor Roy Cooper handily won the Democratic nomination to replace Thom Tillis in the US Senate with 91.98%, while former GOP chair Michael Whatley received the Republican nomination with 64.57%.

For the incumbent representatives in the US House, Republican Brad Knott of District 13 and Democrat Deborah Ross of District 2 both advanced to the general without a major challenger, while Democrat Valerie P. Foushee of District 4 narrowly defeated a more progressive challenge by Durham County Commissioner Nida Allam 49.16-48.23%.

District 1, which contains Vance County and a small portion of Granville, is expected to be a close race after the legislature redrew the map: incumbent Don Davis advanced unopposed while Republican Laurie Buckhout won a plurality victory at 39.51%. In District 9, which contains portions of Chatham County, Democrat Richard N. Ojeda II won his primary with 41.76% of the vote while Republican incumbent Richard Hudson advanced unopposed.

Although there were notable primary upsets with incumbents in the state legislature on both sides of the aisle losing to challengers, incumbents representing the Triangle in the state house and senate were not among them.

Two of the local NC House primaries featured Democrat teachers who changed their party affiliation to run in the Republican primary as part of the “Educators on the Ballot” project; both fell flat, with incumbent Republican Mike Schietzelt beating Michele Joyner-Dinwiddie 90.99-9.01% in District 35 (northeast Wake County) and former Republican representative Frank Sossamon beating Pamela M. Ayscue 88.44-11.56% in District 32 (Granville County, northern Vance County).

However, another Democrat-turned-Republican Lakeshia Alston who made national news for getting her election board photo taken in a burka will be proceeding to the general election, as she filed to run in Senate District 22 (northern Durham County) in which no “true” Republican filed to run; she stands virtually no chance in the D+31 rated district against incumbent Sophia Chitlik, who defeated former Durham City Councilwoman DeDreana Freeman in the Democratic primary 65.51-34.49%.

For the Orange County School Board of Education, self-proclaimed antifa candidate Brian D. Edwards (recently fired from the sheriff’s department due to his extremist posts) came in last, attracting less than half the votes of any of the four winning candidates.

In one Franklin County upset, Republican challengers Jennifer Paylor, Scott Graham, and Jonathan Vanderford beat out one Democrat and two Republican incumbents for the top spots in the nonpartisan primary races for At-Large Seat 7, District 1, and District 5 respectively on the Franklin County Board of Education. However, the incumbents Paige Sayles (D), Meghan Jordan (R), and Chris Perry (R) each achieved second place in the primary, and will each face their challenger in a head-to-head race in November.

Rex Healthcare to Pay $150,000 in EEOC COVID-19 Vaccine Religious Accommodation Suit - EEOC

UNC Health Rex to implement new policy, pay $150K to settle COVID-19 vaccine discrimination lawsuit - WRAL

Rex settles lawsuit over religious exemption for COVID vaccine - N&O

UNC Rex settles with EEOC in COVID-19 religious discrimination lawsuit, will pay $150,000 - CBS17

UNC Rex Healthcare settles federal lawsuit over COVID vaccine religious exemption denial - ABC11

UNC Health’s Rex Healthcare has agreed to a $150,000 settlement in a case brought by the federal US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in December 2024 over Rex’s refusal to accommodate an employee who sought a religious exemption to the organization’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate.

According to the lawsuit, Heather Goeller had been working remotely for over a year in an accounting position with no patient contact when Rex instituted a requirement that employees be vaccinated against COVID-19.

Goeller had previously received exemptions from Rex for the flu vaccine in 2019 and 2020. as she believes that vaccines are a violation of the Christian doctrines that she made in the image of God and that her body is a temple of the Holy Spirit.

However, instead of offering the same “accomodation” for the COVID-19 vaccine, Rex denied four religious exemption requests from Goeller and fired her for refusing to get the shot.

As part of the consent decree approved by the court in February, Rex agreed to pay Goeller $85,643 in back wages and a $64,366 settlement payment, provide a reference letter for future employers, develop a compliant religious accommodation policy within 30 days, provide training to HR and management, and provide compliance reports to the EEOC.

State Trooper killed on Durham highway by wrong-way driver with DWI history

Master Trooper Steven J. Perry killed in Durham wrong-way crash - N&O

Wrong-way driver may have been impaired in crash that killed trooper on Durham Freeway - WRAL

Trooper killed in head-on collision on Durham Freeway - ABC11

Head-on crash kills trooper, wrong-way driver on NC-147 in Durham - CBS17

Attorney and friend of NCSHP trooper killed weighs in on NC’s DWI laws - ABC11

Early Sunday morning, 30-year-old Master Trooper Steven J. Perry of the North Carolina State Highway Patrol was on duty when he was killed in a head-on collision with a driver travelling the wrong direction on NC-147 in west Durham.

Melshawn Moore, 39, of Kinston also died in the crash while travelling southbound in the northbound lanes, and had three prior DWI convictions between 2010 and 2017 as well as tickets in 2020 and 2021 in Pitt and Lenoir counties for open container violations; NCSHP suspects impairment on the part of Moore as a cause of the accident as the investigation continues.

Vehicular accidents are one of the leading causes in line-of-duty death of law enforcement officers; just one week prior to Perry’s killing, Master Trooper Stien Davis, Jr. died in a single-vehicle collision after veering off NC-130 in southeast North Carolina.

May be an image of text — NC State Highway Patrol: Master Trooper Steven J. Perry

Police underage sex sting catches former Wake teacher

Former Wake County teacher, youth pastor charged with child sex crimes - ABC11

Former Wake County teacher and youth pastor charged with child sex crimes, wife faces drug charges - WRAL

Former Wake educator charged with child sex crimes; wife faces drug charges - N&O

Former Wake County assistant principal, schoolteacher charged in child sex crimes investigation, NCSBI says - CBS17

Mikah Douglas Brondyke, 36, is facing a number of charges¹ ² related to sexual behavior with an undercover operative of the Holly Springs Police Department whom he believed to be a 14-year-old girl; Brondyke and his wife Chloe Grace Brondyke, 29, also face charges¹ ² for psychoactive mushrooms found at the couple’s residence in Louisburg.

Mikah Brondyke is a former teacher and assistant soccer coach at Rolesville High School, the same school at which Chloe Brondyke is currently an assistant principal.

According to Holly Springs Police Chief Paul Liquorie, Mikah Brondyke was referred to the department by the NC SBI’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.

Mikah Brondyke is accused of sending explicit photos and videos to as well as soliciting explicit material/sexual activity from the undercover officer, who he believed to be an underaged female.

Chloe and Mikah Brondyke have both been charged with felony possession of a Schedule I controlled substance and keeping/maintaining a dwelling for the purpose of using controlled substances; Mikah Brondyke also faces four counts of soliciting a child by computer, four counts of indecent liberties with a child, ten counts of disseminating obscenity in the presence of a minor, and one count of first degree sexual exploitation of a minor.

Mikah Brondyke is being held on a total secured bond of $620,000, while Chloe Brondyke has been released on a $20,000 unsecured bond.

According to a message sent to Rolesville High parents, Mikah Brondyke has not been employed at the school since May 2024, and the charges have no connection to the school or its students.

However, the continuing investigation by the Holly Springs Police Department may turn up evidence casting doubt on this assertion, as an uncorroborated inside source claims that the reason Mikah Brondyke was terminated from his position at Rolesville High was because he was caught in an inappropriate relationship with one of his soccer students.

May be an image of one or more people and beard — NCSBI: Mikah Douglas Brondyke

Raleigh firefighter, Marine veteran charged after protesting war in Iran at Senate hearing - ABC11

Raleigh firefighter, a Marine veteran, forcibly removed from US Capitol for anti-war protest - WRAL

An NC candidate for U.S. Senate faces charges that he injured Capitol police - N&O

Raleigh man’s arm broken as he disrupts Senate Armed Services hearing, officials say - CBS17

The leftist activist who went viral for being seriously injured while being removed from the Senate Armed Services hearing he was disrupting while wearing his Marine uniform is Brian Clifford McGinnis, a senior firefighter at the Raleigh Fire Department and the North Carolina Green Party’s 2026 Senate candidate.

As graphic video of the incident shows, Capitol Police officers were physically removing a shouting McGinnis from the hearing room when he grabbed on to the center pillar of the room’s double doors, managing to get his arm wedged into the closing door.

As a Republican senator from Montana joined the police efforts to drag him out of the room, McGinnis’ arm can be heard audibly and seen visually snapping in a grotesque display of dedication to his anti-war and anti-Israel activism.

McGinnis reportedly faces three counts of assaulting a police officer, three counts of resisting arrest, and one count of unlawful demonstration.

McGinnis has also been active in local leftist activism including at least one anti-ICE protest in Durham on January 30 organized by the local Party for Socialism and Liberation and waving a Palestinian flag in uniform. McGinnis’ Palestinian wife Hanadee Ali is also a pro-Palestine activist, including showing up at the Raleigh City Council, calling on them to “take a stand against the terrorist state of Israel.”

Follow-ups

Siler City Police employee ducks visa-related fraud charges after “victim” charged with sex offenses, flees country

The charges against a employee of the Siler City Police Department accused of fraudulently taking cash from two apparently illegal aliens for assistance in applying for a visa designed for crime victims have been dropped after one of the “victims” is facing criminal charges of his own and is on the lam, according to a filing by the DA’s office for Chatham and Orange counties:

“Victim has now been charged with sex offense crimes and believed to have fled the country, not available to testify.”

Gloria Maldonado, 57, a domestic violence advocate at the SCPD, was charged with taking a combined $6,400 in cash from Cesar and Enrique Portilla-Platas to “assist” with applying for U-Visas, a service which she allegedly did not actually provide to them.

The U-Visa program, intended to grant nonimmigrant legal status to victims of certain crimes who are “helpful to law enforcement or government officials in the investigation or prosecution of criminal activity,” has been described as “susceptible to fraud” in a report by the Office of the Inspector General, and the DOJ has previously prosecuted rings of fraudsters involving staged crime or bribed law enforcement officials.

It is still not clear based on the information from information available to the public from the NC State Bureau of Investigation, the SCPD, or the District Attorney whether the alleged victims in this crime were actually eligible for the visa, whether Maldonado’s official duties as a domestic violence advocate included the “assistance” she was allegedly charging cash for, or whether she had been involved in the issuance of any U-Visas in the past, which may have been fraudulently paid for by eligible or ineligible foreigners.

May be an image of 1 person — NCSBI: Gloria Maldonado

Previous Coverage:

Siler City Police employee caught running visa scam (No. 140 — Sep. 6, 2025)

Counting the ballots of the dead: administrative judge rules state election board should have heard complaint against Wake board members

Judge reissues original order in NC election board case - Carolina Journal

Weaverville man wins ruling in favor of election misconduct hearings - 828 News Now

Will Dead Voters Make Election Officials’ Heads Roll? - VoteChecker

Judge Issues a Replacement Order Requiring State Board of Elections to Hold Hearings on Misconduct by County Board Members - Press Release

Administrative Law Judge Linda F. Nelson of the Office of Administrative Hearings has ruled that the North Carolina State Board of Elections must hold a hearing on a complaint regarding county board members violating their duties in 2024 by counting the ballots of early voters who died before election day, including the members of the Wake County Board of Elections.

The complaint, brought by two citizens of Buncombe County and Rowan County, demanded that four board members in Rowan County and three in Wake should be removed for ignoring state law and its explicit interpretation in a memorandum by the state board.

As reported by the Triangle Trumpet at the time, the three Democrat members of the Wake board who are named in the complaint openly acknowledged that their decision was based on what they believed the law should be, rather than what the law is and was. “One way to get the law changed I think perhaps is to make some noise about it,” said board member Gerry Cohen.

Although the Democrat-controlled state board had removed two Republican members of the Surry County board in 2023 after a similar citizen complaint over declining to certify the results of the 2020 election, the board voted 3-2 on party lines to refuse to even hold a hearing on the complaint.

However, as Nelson ruled, North Carolina Administrative Code (08 NCAC 03 .0102) requires that such a hearing be held if “prima facie” evidence of a violation of a board member’s duties be presented. (For those unfamiliar with Latin or legal terminology, Nelson explained: “a prima facie case is established where facts are alleged which support, if true, each element of the charged offense without regard to potential defenses.”)

Summary judgment on the administrative appeal of the board’s denial was granted on the basis that the OAH had administrative review of the board’s decision under the North Carolina Administrative Procedure Act and that there was no dispute about the “material facts” of the case, while the state board’s pondering of the motive of the county board members on which they based their decision was irrelevant to the legal standard.

“The State Board members’ discussion during the prima facie review illustrates that a majority of the Board members misunderstood the prima facie standard,” Nelson ruled.

“The discussion reflected that the Board members...acknowledged that the evidence submitted supported the factual allegation that the County Board Members took the action complained of in contravention of Numbered Memorandum 2022-05 and the governing law.”

Unlike the board which dismissed the complaint, the state board which will hear the complaint against the six Democrats and one Republican is composed of three Republicans and two Democrats after the lame duck session of the 2023-2024 GOP-controlled legislature moved nomination power from the Democrat-controlled governor’s office to the Republican-controlled state auditor’s.