[1][2] Sothel fraudulently claimed to have purchased a propriety from Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon, a title given to him by King Charles II, who was his grandson.

The Lord Proprietors acted as a legal body for management of the Carolina Charter, which included strict provisions for a governor.

Sothel met no such requirements and was famous for his illegal claims and was recalled to England by the Lord Proprietors multiple times to answer to charges of treachery.

He confiscated "merchant ships and their cargoes", stole slaves, cattle, and farmlands, and accepted bribes from criminals in exchange for releasing them without prosecution.

They sent Sothel back to England for trial where he was punished by banning him from any office in North Carolina.