North Little Rock - Cary Gaines has resigned from the North Little Rock City Council, four days after a Cabot man was charged in federal court with fraud conspiracy and weapons violations in an indictment that linked the defendant to an alderman and a contractor for the city.

Neither the alderman nor the contractor was named in the indictment Monday that charged George Wylie Thompson, 64, of Cabot, with conspiracy to commit wire fraud in a scheme to rig bids on two North Little Rock public projects.

The indictment did say, however, that the alderman involved in the scheme represented the city's Third Ward, served in the same position in the early 1990s and recently was re-elected to the position. Those specifications fit Gaines.

Gaines' resignation was effective immediately. The City Council can either set a special election for an alderman to serve out the remaining 13 months of Gaines' term, or elect a replacement by majority vote of the council.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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