Four lobbyists indicted over Kentucky bourbon distillery trip for NC lawmakers

RALEIGH, N.C. — One of the biggest questions swirling around a bourbon tour in Kentucky that a nonprofit offered to North Carolina lawmakers two years ago was: Who paid?

On Tuesday, a Wake County grand jury indicted four Raleigh lobbyists, saying they violated the state’s gift ban in getting their clients to put up the money for the trip.

Kevin Wilkinson, David Ferrell, Douglas Bowen Heath and Douglas Miskew now each face a single misdemeanor charge of solicitation to commit violations of the offense of giving gifts by lobbyists and lobbying principals. All four represent alcoholic beverage companies.

Wilkinson said in a text message that he welcomed a “complete and thorough review of the circumstances, and I’m confident I will be cleared of any charges through a fair judicial process.”

Mark Bowles, the chairman of Heath’s lobbying firm, McGuireWoods Consulting, issued a statement saying Heath “did nothing wrong.”

Ferrell and Miskew could not immediately be reached for comment. The indictments say the money went to tour sponsor Greater Carolina, which then paid the travel, meal and hotel costs.

Business NC first reported the indictments.

According to the indictments, Wilkinson “requested and encouraged” Sazerac Company to host a tasting and dinner at the company’s Buffalo Trace Distillery in Frankfort, Kentucky. Sazerac paid for a tasting and dinner for the group, which included a number of members of the North Carolina General Assembly. This April 2024 event was part of a multi-day, invitation-only tour of the Kentucky Bourbon Trail for which travel expenses were covered for legislators who attended by lobbyists through contributions made to Greater Carolina, a social welfare organization, the indictments say. The group is based in Mooresville.

Heath encouraged Diageo North America to make a contribution to Greater Carolina, knowing that the money would be used to fund transportation to and from, and a tour and tasting at, its Stitzel-Weller Distillery in Shively, Kentucky, his indictment states. He also encouraged Diageo to pay for a dinner at Morton’s The Steakhouse in Louisville, where he was recognized as the sponsor for the group.

Miskew encouraged Churchill Downs to host and pay for the group at its Opening Race Night, which included a buffet with food and beverages, his indictment states.

Ferrell encouraged the North Carolina Spirits Association to make a contribution to Greater Carolina, knowing the money would be used to pay for the group to attend a “barrel pick” and lunch at Heaven Hill Distillery in Bardstown, Kentucky, Ferrell’s indictment states. The money was also used to pay for a reception at the Thoroughbred Society, where the Spirits Association was identified as a sponsor, it says.

Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman said none of the lobbyists’ clients would face charges for the trip because they are out-of-state entities. She also said no charges would be filed related to an earlier trip in 2022 that lawmakers also attended because they were beyond the two-year statute of limitations for misdemeanors.

She declined to identify which lawmakers went on the trips.

“I’m not in a position to talk about the facts of the case at this point,” she said. “It’s a pending case and there’s an ongoing investigation into Greater Carolina.”

She said that investigation goes beyond the distillery tours, but declined to provide more specifics.

David Coble, Greater Carolina’s director, could not be immediately reached.

The charges came after Carolina Forward, a left-leaning nonprofit, filed a complaint in August 2024 contending that Greater Carolina and some of those involved in the distillery tour had violated lobbying, ethics and charitable solicitation laws.

The trip may not have caught the attention of investigators if it weren’t for an employee at one of the distilleries who complained about the group’s behavior in a Reddit post.

Greater Carolina is closely associated with former Rep. Jason Saine, a Lincolnton Republican who left the legislature three months after the second distillery tour to become a lobbyist. Clark Riemer, a former aide to Saine, set up the nonprofit in 2018.

Saine and state Sen. David Craven, an Asheboro Republican, are the only two lawmakers to disclose they went on the 2024 trip. Craven was Greater Carolina’s secretary in 2020, the year he joined the state Senate. But neither they nor two other lawmakers whose names turned up on receipts from the trip disclosed it on their statements of economic interest. Carolina Forward had obtained those receipts.

Blair Reeves of Carolina Forward said in a statement that the group is “gratified that breaking North Carolina state law still carries consequences, even for well-connected lobbyists.”

The group hopes “this is the beginning of a renewed focus on political corruption in our state legislature,” Reeves said.

Greater Carolina’s latest tax return, filed last month, shows it raised $26,500 in 2025, the lowest in its seven-year history. That’s down dramatically from $568,000 in 2024, and $834,000 in 2023, which was its highest year. It’s also less than the $91,000 in credit card debt it reported on the return.

Greater Carolina also spent far less – $48,000 – compared to prior years. It spent $733,000 in 2024, the year of the second distillery tour.

The nonprofit’s website now says the group’s web account has “expired.”