ELIZABETHTOWN — Delane Jackson, a former town manager/administrator for the town of Bladenboro, appeared in Bladen County Superior Court on Monday to hear a charge against him stemming from a business he owned while an employee of Bladenboro.
Jackson, who has served as town manager for River Bend near New Bern since 2014, was indicted last month by a Bladen County Grand Jury after a lengthy investigation by the N.C. State Bureau of Investigation. He has been charged with one count of felony obtaining property by false pretense in excess of $100,000.
On Monday, Jackson told Bladen County Resident Superior Court Judge Douglas Sasser that he would not be using a court-appointed attorney. His local attorney, Harold “Butch” Pope of Whiteville, was in attendance.
Sasser continued the case until April 2.
The charge stems from allegations that Jackson’s company, known as Cygnus, Inc., was awarded a contract by the Bladenboro Town Council in 2005 for wastewater treatment and spray irrigation services. Over the course of about eight years, the company was paid nearly $500,000 despite reports no employees or company vehicles were ever seen in Bladenboro.
Cygnus was closed in 2013 when a new administration was elected and Jackson was forced to resign.