A former North Carolina election official faces felony charges after he allegedly placed drugs in teenage girls’ ice cream.
A grand jury indicted James Yokeley on January 20, 2026, in New Hanover County on two counts of unlawful distribution of food or beverage and one count of intentional child abuse involving serious physical injury.
From WBTV:
A former chair of a county elections board in eastern North Carolina was recently indicted on three new charges after allegedly drugging his granddaughter’s and her friend’s ice cream.
James Yokeley Jr. was additionally charged on Jan. 20 with intentional child abuse – serious physical injury and two counts of unlawful distribution of food or beverage.
Yokeley was arrested in August after reportedly flagging down an officer at a Sheetz gas station in Wilmington. Officers said that Yokeley told them his granddaughter and her friend found hard objects in their ice cream, which was ordered at the Dairy Queen on Oleander Drive.
According to WBTV sister station WECT, the pills tested positive for the psychedelic drug MDMA. The pills also reportedly tested positive for cocaine.
He resigned from his position on the Surry County Board of Public Elections following his arrest.
#NorthCarolina #Elections Chair, James Edwin Yokeley Jr., 66, Indicted For Drugging Teenage Girls’ Ice Creams - #DemandCapitalPunishment - https://t.co/dUmqdw7WSz
— Jeff Hertzog (@JeffHertzog1961) January 29, 2026
Yokeley took his 16-year-old step-granddaughter and her 15-year-old friend to a Dairy Queen. The girls waited in his vehicle while he went inside and ordered frozen custard for them, according to Komo News.
Surveillance footage from the Dairy Queen showed Yokeley putting something on the counter and slipping pills into both custards while the girls remained outside. Upon receiving their ice cream, they discovered blue pressed pills inside before eating it.
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After the girls discovered the pills, Yokeley flagged down an officer near Sheetz gas station and told them the teenagers found the pills in their desserts. Medical personnel examined both the girls and found they had not ingested any of the pills. He claimed someone in the Dairy Queen must have poisoned the desserts.
After police reviewed the Dairy Queen surveillance footage showing Yokeley putting the pills in the cups himself, they arrested him.
Preliminary field tests indicated the pills contained MDMA (ecstasy) and cocaine. But later testing at a state laboratory revealed something different: the substance was Trazodone, a sleep aid and antidepressant.
Trazodone is not a controlled substance, so the authorities dropped the initial drug charges. But it can still be harmful to minors. The FDA specifically warns that “children younger than 18 years of age should not normally take trazodone.”
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