Sam Currin

This article is about the American judge. For his son, see S. Thomas Currin II.
Sam Currin
Chair of the North Carolina Republican Party
In office
1996–1999
Succeeded byBill Cobey
North Carolina Superior Court Judge
In office
1987–1990
Appointed byJames G. Martin
United States Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina
In office
1981–1987
PresidentRonald Reagan
Preceded byJames L. Blackburn
Succeeded byDouglas McCullough
Personal details
PartyRepublican
SpouseMargaret Person
ChildrenS. Thomas Currin II
EducationWake Forest University
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary
Occupationlawyer
politician
minister

Samuel Thomas Currin Sr. is an American Baptist minister, retired judge, and former lawyer. He served as United States Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina from 1981 to 1987 and as a North Carolina Superior Court Judge from 1987 to 1990. He also served as the Chair of the North Carolina Republican Party and as Judge Advocate in Chief for the Sons of Confederate Veterans. Currin was imprisoned in 2007 for money laundering and obstruction of justice. He was released in 2009 after providing a testimony against one of his co-conspirators.

Education

Currin graduated with honors from Wake Forest University, earned a juris doctor from the University of North Carolina School of Law, and earned a master's degree in Ethics, Theology and Culture and a doctorate in Christian Education from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.[1][2]

Career

Law and politics

Currin began his career working as a federal prosecutor in Raleigh, North Carolina before being hired as a legislative worker by Senator Jesse Helms.[3]

Upon Helms's recommendation, Currin was appointed the United States Attorney for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina by President Ronald Reagan in 1981 and served in that capacity until 1987.[4][3] As a U.S. attorney, Currin oversaw the prosecution of the perpetrators of Colcor, a corruption case involving government officials in Columbus County.[3] In 1986, he prosecuted members of the White Patriot Party, a neo-Nazi paramilitary group.[5] He also prosecuted dozens of drug conspiracy cases in Brunswick County.[2]

Helms recommended Currin for a federal judgeship, but withdrew the recommendation after Raleigh lawyers opposed the nomination.[3] In 1987, Governor James G. Martin appointed him to the North Carolina Superior Court.[4][3] He served on the court until 1990.[3]

He was elected as chairman of the North Carolina Republican Party in 1996 and served until 1999.[5] He was a member of the Electoral College of the United States, representing North Carolina during the 2000 United States presidential election, where he voted for George W. Bush and Dick Cheney.[6]

Following his term on the court, Currin worked in private practice.[4] The waiting room of his law office in downtown Raleigh was reportedly decorated with paintings of General Robert E. Lee and other famous Confederates and supplied issues of Southern Partisan and Confederate Veteran magazines to clients.[5] During this time, he served pro bono as legal chief for the North Carolina Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV) .[3][7] According to a report by the Southern Poverty Law Center, he fought against anti-racism efforts within the organization.[7] He ratified the expulsion of three hundred SCV members and barred entry to Walt Hilderman III, a leading member who planned to run for the SCV's Commander in Chief of the Sons of Confederate Veterans on an anti-racist platform, from the SCV's annual convention in July 2004.[7][5] Denne Sweeney, who was elected SCV Commander in Chief, appointed Currin as Judge Advocate in Chief, the highest legal post in the SCV.[7][5] He resigned from the position upon being indicted in 2006.[7]

Arrest and imprisonment

Currin was indicted in 2006 following a three-year-long undercover investigation.[7] In November 2006, Currin pled guilty to charges of money laundering and obstruction of justice.[8][9] He admitted to lying and failing to surrender documents to a grand jury, failing to report $6,000 in income to the Internal Revenue Service, and to laundering around $1.4 million in a securities fraud scheme run by a spam email company.[4][3] According to prosecutors, Currin profited over $240,000 for his involvement in the scheme, which used spam emails, unsolicited faxes, internet search optimization, and voice mail broadcasting to manipulate the stock prices of multiple publicly traded companies.[4] In September 2007, he was sentenced to almost six years in prison.[10] After Currin testified against one of his co-conspirators, federal prosecutors recommended a reduced sentence.[11] In 2009, a judge issued a release order for Currin.[11]

Ministry and political advocacy

Currin is an ordained Southern Baptist minister and an advocate for K-12 Christian education.[1] In 1974, he attended one of Billy Graham's crusades at Carter–Finley Stadium.[12] In the 1980s and 1990s, he served on the board of directors of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty and played an important role in the Southern Baptist Convention's decision to defund it's public affairs agency in 1990.[13] He served on the board of directors of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina until his resignation in April 2006.[13]

In 1987, he lobbied for the Southern Baptist Convention to endorse Robert Bork following his 1897 nomination to the United States Supreme Court.[13]

In 2023, he served as a guest minister at Holden Beach Chapel in Holden Beach, North Carolina.[2]

He has written op-eds for the Carolina Journal about Billy Graham and promoting Christian and private education and freedom of religion.[1][14][15] Currin also wrote for North State Journal, criticizing the administrations of Presidents George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Joe Biden and praising the efforts of President Donald Trump.[16] He also criticized the Kamala Harris 2024 presidential campaign for supporting abortion rights.[17] In 2025, he condemned the assassination of Charlie Kirk and referred to Kirk as a "Christian martyr".[18]

Currin donated to the NC Heritage PAC, a conservative political action committee, in 2016.[19]

In 2023, he claimed that the United States had an "aggressive secular culture" that was "attempting to force ideological conformity on people of faith" and accused LGBTQ activists and "leftist politicians" of seeking political revenge against the Supreme Court for its rulings in Groff v. DeJoy and 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis.[15]

Personal life

Currin is married to Margaret P. Currin, who also served as a United States Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina.[3][12] Their son, S. Thomas Currin II, is a superior court judge.

He is a member of Hayes Barton Baptist Church in Raleigh.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Sam Currin". Carolina Journal. John Locke Foundation. Retrieved April 24, 2026.
  2. ^ a b c d "Guest Ministers Dr. Sam Currin - Baptist". Holden Beach Chapel. Holden Beach, North Carolina. February 12, 2023.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Fitzsimon, Chris (December 23, 2021). "The rise and fall of Sam Currin". News from the States. Retrieved April 24, 2026.
  4. ^ a b c d e "Ex-Judge Sent to Prison for Money Laundering". WRAL-TV. Raleigh, North Carolina. September 4, 2007. Retrieved April 24, 2026.
  5. ^ a b c d e Elliston, Jon (August 18, 2004). "Sam Currin caught in the crossfire". Indy Week. Durham, North Carolina. Retrieved April 24, 2026.
  6. ^ "President Elect - 2000". Archived from the original on 2012-02-12. Retrieved 2009-11-08.
  7. ^ a b c d e f "Top SCV Attorney Indicted in International Tax Scheme". Southern Poverty Law Center. Montgomery, Alabama. August 11, 2006. Retrieved April 24, 2026.
  8. ^ "Former U.S. Attorney Pleads Guilty To Money Laundering". WRAL-TV. Raleigh, North Carolina. December 11, 2006. Retrieved April 24, 2026.
  9. ^ "Ex-U.S. attorney pleads guilty in tax fraud case". NBC News. November 2, 2006.
  10. ^ "Former judge, prosecutor gets almost 6 years on fraud charges". The American Lawyer. New York, New York. September 5, 2007. Retrieved April 24, 2026.
  11. ^ a b "Former GOP chair to leave prison". WTVD. Raleigh, North Carolina. July 14, 2009. Retrieved April 24, 2026.
  12. ^ a b Currin, Sam (May 30, 2024). "The remarkable legacy of Billy Graham". Carolina Journal. John Locke Foundation. Retrieved April 24, 2026.
  13. ^ a b c Marus, Robert (May 2, 2006). "Sam Currin indicted in tax fraud case". Baptist Standard. Baptist General Convention of Texas. Retrieved April 24, 2026.
  14. ^ Currin, Sam (November 9, 2023). "Should your church start a school?". Carolina Journal. John Locke Foundation. Retrieved April 24, 2026.
  15. ^ a b Currin, Sam (July 4, 2023). "A good week for God and country". Carolina Journal. John Locke Foundation. Retrieved April 24, 2026.
  16. ^ Currin, Sam (September 5, 2025). "CURRIN: Can the president rescue Washington?". North State Journal. Raleigh, North Carolina. Retrieved April 24, 2026.
  17. ^ Currin, Sam (November 22, 2024). "CURRIN: Voters rejected Kamala Harris' radical abortion agenda". North State Journal. Raleigh, North Carolina. Retrieved April 24, 2026.
  18. ^ Currin, Sam (September 26, 2025). "CURRIN: Charlie Kirk: American patriot and Christian martyr". North State Journal. Raleigh, North Carolina. Retrieved April 24, 2026.
  19. ^ Barber, Rebekah (February 3, 2020). "North Carolina Officials Aren't Rushing to Return Pro-Confederate PAC Donations". Truth Out. Retrieved April 24, 2026.
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