The GOP chair of a local elections board in North Carolina has been arrested after being accused of putting MDMA and cocaine in his grandchildren’s ice cream.
After it was determined that the two hadn’t ingested the substances, preliminary field tests indicated that the pills were illegal narcotics, and they were taken to a state lab for further testing.
Video footage showed Yokeley placing the pills in his grandchildren’s frozen treats, per Wilmington Police.
The 66-year-old has been charged with two felony counts of contaminating food or drink with a controlled substance, felony child abuse and felony possession of Schedule I narcotics.
The state and Surry County elections boards, in a statement, said they are “aware” of the charges against Yokeley.
“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 county’s voters,” the statement read.
Prior to his appointment to chair of the Surry County Board of Elections, Yokeley previously ran — and lost — in the Republican primary for a seat on the Surry County school board in 2022.
Stop TheAssaulton Media
Your Support Fuels Our Mission
Your Support Fuels Our Mission
When journalism is silenced, the most vulnerable voices are the first to disappear. Your membership defends reporters on the ground—so the truth can’t be buried.
Protect the stories that matter.
We remain committed to providing you with the unflinching, fact-based journalism everyone deserves.
Thank you again for your support along the way. We’re truly grateful for readers like you! Your initial support helped get us here and bolstered our newsroom, which kept us strong during uncertain times. Now as we continue, we need your help more than ever. We hope you will join us once again.
We remain committed to providing you with the unflinching, fact-based journalism everyone deserves.
Thank you again for your support along the way. We’re truly grateful for readers like you! Your initial support helped get us here and bolstered our newsroom, which kept us strong during uncertain times. Now as we continue, we need your help more than ever. We hope you will join us once again.
Already contributed? Log in to hide these messages.
In 2023, Yokeley was appointed to the Surry County election board to replace a member who was dismissed for attempting to delay the certification of election results, as reported in a 2024 story by Reuters.
Emails obtained by the wire outlet noted that Yokeley “expressed concern about noncitizens casting votes,” a claim pushed by President Donald Trump ahead of last year’s election, and he “pressed the five-member, majority-Democrat board to check citizenship more stringently.”