An old politician in Wilmington, North Carolina, is in deep trouble after he was found slipping some rather dangerous drugs into his granddaughter’s ice cream. To make matters worse, he was the one who reported the incident, after his granddaughters noticed the two cocaine and MDSM or “Molly” pills in their dessert. Hence, authorities appear to be puzzled at the grandfather’s motives.
James Edwin Yokeley Jr. is the man in question, and he also held an esteemed position in the Surry County Board of Elections in North Carolina as a Republican and board chairman. On August 8, Yokeley went to the police and reported that his two underage granddaughters had found two pills in their ice cream, which he had purchased for them in Dairy Queen on Oleander Drive.
Unfortunately for Yokeley, video footage was available at the establishment, and it showed that he was the one who slipped the pills into her grandkids’ ice cream. The pills were then identified by the police as cocaine and MDMA, also known as either Ecstasy or Molly. The cops then arrested Yokely and placed him in the New Hanover County Detention Center with a $100,000 bond.
“Medical personnel checked the two juveniles. It was determined that they had not ingested any of the substances,” says Wilmington Police Department, transcript courtesy of WECT
Thankfully, Yokely’s granddaughters didn’t ingest the pills as they immediately noticed them in their ice cream. Still, the police charged the Republican grandfather with contaminating food or drink with a controlled substance, felony possession of schedule 1 narcotics, and felony child abuse, according to arrest warrants. Meanwhile, the North Carolina State Board of Elections also released a statement about Yokeley in line with his charges:
“The State Board of Elections and Surry County Board of Elections are aware of the charges against Mr. Yokeley, the chair of the Surry County Board of Elections. We will continue to collect information about the situation and will provide support to the Surry County board, as needed, to ensure it is able to continue serving the countyโs voters.”
What was Yokely Doing?
Investigations about Yokeley’s actions appear to be ongoing at the moment while he awaits trial. However, people online were deeply concerned as to what exactly Yokeley planned to do by trying to drug his two underage granddaughters. Some have suggested that Yokely could have been staging a grifting attempt so he could sue the local Dairy Queen branch and blame them for the drugs. Others had more disturbing accusations.
“I donโt know what would be more Surry County- drugging your granddaughterโs ice cream so you could molest them or claiming that DQ did this so you could grift them,” suggests a Reddit user
“No, he reported it to the police. The idea was to claim they came from Dairy Queen that way, so he could sue them. Scumbag a**hole idiot grifters, from the top down. Investigators found video footage of him putting the pills in there before he notified the police.”
“Or, the granddaughters noticed them, and then he tried to cover his tracks by claiming it was the DQ.”
Apart from those worrying accusations, which were warranted given Yokeley’s actions, certain people online were not surprised as they think what Yokeley did was “on brand” with Republican politicians, especially those who claim to be Christian Conservatives. Such a pattern has emerged long ago, and incidents like the one perpetrated by Yokeley have continued to reinforce the notion.
“Didnโt really need the mugshot to know what he would look like lol”
“Just normal Republican things”
“Conservative Christian Republican? Iโm assuming before reading.”
