Smith Mountain Lake mansion tied to Ken Cuccinelli is sold

The Smith Mountain Lake mansion that Star Scientific chief executive Jonnie Williams lent to his friend Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli has been sold.

Cuccinelli’s three stays at the house, two of which he originally neglected to disclose, came as Star was fighting a $1.8 million tax assessment from the state.

Williams, sold his 10-room, 4,400-square-foot mansion on Upland Shores Drive for $2 million, courthouse records show. The property includes a boathouse and covered dock.

Cuccinelli received a total of $18,000 in gifts from Williams, including some of Star’s products, a flight and the stays at Smith Mountain Lake. Cuccinelli also invested in Star, including one $10,000 investment after Star sued the state to overturn the tax assessment. He has said his office pursued that case like any other. The case has been pending for two years with only one response from the state.

Williams still owns a lot next door, assessed at $700,000, and with his son, a nine-room, 2,188-square-foot house, with boathouse and pier, according to Franklin County tax records.

The buyer is Nelson E. Link, a Roanoke financial adviser. Link has not been a donor to any Virginia political campaigns.

Williams last year agreed to stop collecting his $1 million-a-year salary from Star, which has lost more than $130 million over the past five years.

Williams has been cooperating with an investigation of his much larger-scale gift-giving to Gov. Bob McDonnell.

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