GOP Congressman Madison Cawthorn charged with driving on a revoked license for 2nd time; court dates set

Joel Burgess, Asheville Citizen Times
·2 min read
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Rep. Madison Cawthorn, R-N.C., leaves a House Republican Conference strategy session on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, April 20, 2021
Rep. Madison Cawthorn, R-N.C., leaves a House Republican Conference strategy session on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, April 20, 2021
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Rep. Madison Cawthorn, R-N.C., has been charged for the second time in the past five years with driving on a revoked license, a misdemeanor that carries up to 20 days in jail.

The 26-year-old Henderson County Republican was pulled over March 3 in Cleveland County, about 1½ hours southeast of Asheville, by the highway patrol, according to court records and a highway patrol spokesperson.

Along with the misdemeanor, Cawthorn is facing two pending citations for speeding: driving 89 mph in a 65 mph zone in Buncombe County on Oct. 18 and 87 mph in a 70 mph zone in Polk County on Jan. 8.

Highway patrol spokesperson Sgt. Marcus Bethea said March 9 he could "confirm that the three citation numbers" are pending matters in Buncombe, Polk and Cleveland counties.

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The (Asheville, North Carolina) Citizen Times has reached out to Cawthorn spokesperson Luke Ball.

The court date for the misdemeanor is May 6. The Polk County speeding citation is set to be heard April 18 and the Buncombe citation on May 3.

Cawthorn has been charged before with driving after having his license taken away. Before he was sworn in last year as a U.S. House member, a 2017 charge of driving with a revoked license was dismissed in Buncombe, court records show.

Rep. Madison Cawthorn has been charged with driving with a revoked license.
Rep. Madison Cawthorn has been charged with driving with a revoked license.

Driving with a revoked license is considered a Class 3 misdemeanor in North Carolina and carries a maximum sentence of 20 days in jail, though the punishment is usually a fine or probation.

Cawthorn uses a wheelchair after being seriously injured in a 2014 car accident in Florida. A friend who was driving fell asleep while Cawthorn slept in the passenger seat, according to his 2019 federal court filing against the insurance company.

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: U.S. Rep. Madison Cawthorn charged with driving on a revoked license