State Sen. R.C. Soles Jr., D-Columbus, is free to return to his law practice and his seat in the General Assembly. The 75-year-old lawmaker pleaded guilty Thursday in Columbus County Superior Court to a misdemeanor charge of assault with a deadly weapon. Under the plea agreement, Soles will pay more than $1,000 in court costs but face no other penalties.

From the bench, Judge D. Jack Hooks Jr. ordered Soles initially to serve a 60-day suspended sentence. But defense attorney Joe Cheshire asked for a private conference with the judge, and after the meeting, both Cheshire and N.C. Department of Justice attorney James Coman acknowledged that a suspended sentence was not part of the plea agreement.

A Columbus County grand jury indicted Soles in January on a felony charge of assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury. In August, Soles shot former legal client Kyle Blackburn, 22, in the leg at Soles’ home near Tabor City. Soles argued he was acting in self-defense because Blackburn and B.J. Wright, 23, another former legal client, kicked in the door to his house and would not leave the premises. At the time, Blackburn was treated at a local hospital and released.

Soles told reporters he did not call 911 but instead called the Tabor City police chief on a personal telephone number and the chief apparently did not get the message.

A felony conviction could have carried a jail sentence of 15 months to 31 months and would have forced Soles to surrender his Senate seat.

Soles was first elected to the General Assembly in 1968 and is the chair of the Democratic Caucus. He has announced he will not seek re-election but plans to serve the remainder of his term.

The State Bureau of Investigation also has been investigating allegations made on a Wilmington television station by Stacey Scott, another former Soles legal client. Scott said when he was 15, Soles sexually molested him. Scott recanted the charge a few days later.

Several months ago, a 47-year-old former Tabor City resident told Carolina Journal and WWAY-TV in Wilmington that Soles sexually assaulted him on several occasions, beginning when the accuser was 13.

Rick Henderson is managing editor of Carolina Journal. Executive Editor Don Carrington provided additional reporting for this story.