Letitia James’s grandniece ‘willfully avoiding’ probation living in Virginia home 

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A relative of indicted New York Attorney General Letitia James has been listed as a fugitive in North Carolina for years while living in the Democratic prosecutor’s Virginia home, according to state correctional officials.

Nakia Thompson, James’s grandniece, has resided with her three children at James’s three-bedroom house in Norfolk since 2020. This is the same property at the center of the federal bank-fraud case against the New York attorney general.

New York Attorney General Letitia James speaks during an event for New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani.
New York Attorney General Letitia James speaks during an event for New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, Monday, Oct. 13, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Olga Fedorova)

Keith Acree, communications director for the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction, confirmed to the Washington Examiner that Thompson “is listed as an absconder for willfully avoiding supervision by her probation/parole officer.”

“Ms. Thompson was sentenced to probation for misdemeanor convictions for assault and battery and trespassing,” Acree said. “Due to the level of the offenses, the district attorney has designated this case non-extraditable. She faces arrest if located in North Carolina, and possible activation by the court of the suspended sentence.”

The Daily Mail was the first to report this week about Thompson’s status. While Acree did not immediately respond to a request for follow-up comment, he told the outlet that an absconder is “considered a fugitive.”

If Thompson remains in Virginia, she cannot be extradited to North Carolina unless she voluntarily returns to the state because her crimes were considered non-extraditable. But if located there, she faces the threat of arrest, Acree said.

The fugitive status for Thompson, 36, stems from a 2019 probation order issued in Forsyth County, where she was convicted of the two misdemeanor offenses. State records show she stopped reporting to her probation officer and was subsequently marked as an absconder, a designation that typically applies to offenders who “willfully avoid” required supervision.

The revelation adds another layer of scrutiny to James, indicted last week in Virginia on one count of bank fraud and another count of making a false statement. Prosecutors allege she misrepresented the purpose of the Norfolk property when she purchased it in 2020 for $137,000, falsely claiming she intended to use it as a secondary residence in order to secure more favorable loan terms. The indictment says that while James indicated to her mortgage broker that she expected to use the house as a second home for herself, she had instead used it as a “rental investment property, renting the property to a family.”

According to court filings and grand jury testimony previously reported by the New York Times, James’s grandniece and her children have lived in the home for years rent-free. Thompson reportedly told a Norfolk grand jury in June that she had never paid rent to James, who visited the property several times a year.

It is not immediately clear how or whether the prospect of Thompson living at the Norfolk residence affects the case against the Empire State attorney general. However, Thompson’s criminal history could affect her credibility as a witness should prosecutors or James’s legal team call her as one. James is set to make her first appearance in federal court on Oct. 24.

James’s lawyer, Abbe Lowell, has denied wrongdoing, saying the attorney general’s indictment represents a politically motivated effort by the Trump administration to punish one of the president’s most vocal critics.

New York Attorney General Letitia James speaks at a campaign rally.
New York Attorney General Letitia James speaks at a campaign rally for New York City Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani in New York on Monday, Oct. 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey)

LETITIA JAMES HANDLED MORTGAGE AND BANK FRAUD CASES SIMILAR TO THE ONE SHE NOW FACES

Following the indictment, the attorney general made her first public appearance on Monday evening at a campaign event for New York City Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani, using the event to denounce the case against her in part.

“I know what it feels like to be attacked for just doing your job,” James said Monday. “I also know what it feels like to overcome adversity, and so I stand on solid rock, and I will not bow. I will not break. I will not bend. I will not capitulate. I will not give in. I will not give up.”

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