NEW HANOVER COUNTY — A former Surry County Board of Elections chair charged in connection to drugs found in two minors’ ice cream was present at the New Hanover County Courthouse Thursday. James Edwin Yokeley Jr. hoped to have his electronic monitor removed.
Judge Kent Harrell denied the request because he did not believe the ankle monitor was obtrusive and thought it was a necessary precaution, especially given the charges.
Yokeley was arrested in August 2025 and charged with two counts of unlawful distribution of food or beverage and one count of intentional child abuse inflicting serious physical injury for allegedly trying to drug his underage step-granddaughter and her friend with trazodone.
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In court Thursday, Yokeley’s attorney Eric Howland described the ankle monitor as an “unnecessary” measure for a man with no past altercations with the law. Yokeley was ordered to wear the monitor Nov. 4 when he visited his step-granddaughter’s home, despite the no-contact order he was issued when he bonded out for $100,000 last summer.
However, October court documents indicate Yokeley and his wife visited the home of his step-granddaughter to drop off a box of items. Howland informed the court Thursday nobody in the residence was present, nor did the couple enter the house. The victim’s family saw Yokeley approach the door through a Ring camera, which led to last November’s court date to review the conditions of his bond and make Yokeley undergo electronic monitoring.
Howland argued Yokeley’s Nov. 4 violation was a result of not understanding pre-trial release rules and limitations and visiting the home was not done maliciously.
“With over five months of compliance, it seems a little unnecessary,” he argued on behalf of his client Thursday, noting he is a first-time offender.
Howland claimed Yokeley no longer needed monitoring because the Yokeleys have already figured out a system to avoid interactions between the defendant and the alleged victims, who live in Surry County. Yokeley and his wife no longer reside there but in New Hanover County.
Yokeley’s arrest took place in New Hanover County last August after a Wilmington Police Department officer was flagged down at a Sheetz on Shipyard Boulevard. Officers found pills in Yokeley’s 16-year-old step-granddaughter and her 15-year-old friend’s ice creams recently purchased at the Dairy Queen on Oleander Drive. However, upon video surveillance, WPD said they witnessed Yokeley place the pills in the desserts.
According to the prosecution, trazodone can lead to increased risk of suicidal ideation and behavior in children, adolescents and young adults. It is not approved for pediatric patients. Further, the consequences could have become deadly if one of the girls ingested the pill, while being on a prescribed antidepressant because the incident would have led to a serotonin overdose.
The defense pointed to the presence of Yokeley’s family members in the audience who took up a whole row in court. The group included his son, daughter and wife, and Howland said it was further evidence of Yokeley’s character and continued compliance, overseen by these individuals.
Assistant District Attorney Lance Oehrlein disagreed with the defense’s claims and didn’t think Yokeley’s lack of prior convictions was reason enough to remove the ankle monitor.
“The facts are, both of these parents were really scared that this guy was gonna have contact with their families, and one of the families sees him on their Ring camera, coming to their house,” he said.
The ADA added while the victims nor their families could be at court in person, neither wanted Yokeley’s ankle monitor to come off. Oehrlein also pointed out Yokeley’s compliance since the November court date only served as evidence the more stringent rules were working.
“These children ought to know that he is not going to come around because they have this extra compliance with the monitoring and the exclusion zones,” Oehrlein added.
Ultimately, Judge Harrell sided with the prosecution. The judge added the electronic monitoring will protect Yokeley, to ensure the absence of false accusals.
“My view is electronic monitoring is as much for his own protection as it is a device to track his whereabouts because it protects him from any accusations that he violated the terms of that pretrial,” the judge said. “I don’t find electronic monitoring to be such an intrusive restriction on movement that it imposes any undue obligations given the nature of the offenses charged.”
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