Some of our regular readers will recall that Bubbaworld has a sister site called “Today In Oklahoma”. Over the years, “Today In Oklahoma” had fallen into disuse and was all but forgotten.
Well, not anymore
Today In Oklahoma has received a major MAKEOVER and is providing the latest news and information from multiple print and broadcast sites around Oklahoma and it is doing so 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
You are invited to drop by Today In Oklahoma and take a look-see…
When Jeff McMahan ran for the office of Oklahoma State Auditor and Inspector his campaign motto was “McMahan Can”
And now in the wake of federal conspiracy and bribery convictions it turns out that not only Jeff McMahan can, but his wife Lori McMahan can also.
Can go to federal prison.
On January 26, 2009 U.S. District Judge James H. Payne, in federal court in Muskogee, sentenced Jeff McMahan to eight years and one month in federal prison.
Judge Payne sentenced Lori McMahan to six years and six months in federal prison.
The McMahans requested leniency because they have two teenage children and Jeff McMahan claimed in court papers that he had not really known about the illegal campaign activities and that he and his wife were “politically naive newcomers” who got caught up in an already corrupt system.
The judge rejected the leniency request and the lame excuses offered by Jeff McMahan, telling him that he had “subverted the public’s trust” in the election process.
At the sentencing hearing, Lori McMahan, a former fifth-grade teacher, wept, trembled and then hugged her husband.
Jeff McMahan’s attorney was reported to have indicated that he would likely appeal.
Lori McMahan’s attorney was reported to have indicated that she likely would not appeal.
The McMahans’ fall from grace, criminal convictions and prison sentences were for the most part the result of the testimony of Steve Phipps, a southeastern Oklahoma businessman, who admitted giving more than $100,000 illegally to Jeff McMahan’s 2002 campaign, paying the McMahans’ expenses for three trips and buying expensive jewelry for Lori McMahan.
Phipps operated abstracting companies that were at the time regulated by the State Auditor and Inspector.
Speaking of which, below is a campaign sign from Jeff McMahan’s run for the office of State Auditor and Inspector.
Had McMahan practiced the honesty and integrity that he promised on his campaign sign, he and his wife would not be felons and required to turn themselves in no later than March 27th to begin their prison sentences.
He didn’t and they are…
A Major County jury has found Former Custer County Sheriff Michael Burgess guilty on 13 felony counts, including five counts of second-degree rape and three counts of bribery by a public official, in the latest jail house sex slave scandal in Oklahoma.
After eight hours of deliberation on Friday and Saturday the jury returned with the guilty verdicts along with 23 not guilty verdicts in a case that was moved from Custer County to Major County because of intense media coverage of the scandal in Custer County.
In addition to finding Burgess guilty on the 13 counts, the jury recommended that Burgess serve 94 years in prison.
Special prosecutor Mike Boring called the verdict important, saying: “This kind of action cannot be tolerated in our society.”
Defense attorney Steve Huddleston said, “I didn’t think he was guilty of anything.” Huddleston said he expected Burgess would appeal the convictions.
Formal sentencing is set for March 24th.
Interested parties you can follow the case via online court records. This case was initially filed and Burgess initially charged in Custer County. Those court records are available via this search.
In October, 2008 the defense sought and was granted a change of venue, to Major County. The Major County court records for the case of Michael Burgess are available online via this search
Notice: As of early on 01/19/09 Major court records have not been updated to reflect the jury trial and its outcome. Currently the online reference for Major County court records is updated on a monthly basis and was last updated on January 8, 2009, therefore it will likely be February before the trial and its outcome appears in the online Major County court records.
Meet former Creek County, Oklahoma District Judge Donald Thompson, who we sometimes refer to as “The Masturbating Judge”.
It seems that Thompson is in trouble with the law again.
No, not for playing with his sex toys in public, like previously.
This time Thompson was busted for allegedly driving while under the influence.
This after a state trooper saw a vehicle stopped on the outside shoulder of the Creek Turnpike east of Elwood Avenue, in Tulsa. When the trooper investigated he allegedly found the former judge to have slurred speech, bloodshot eyes and a strong odor of alcohol on his breath and Thompson’s vehicle to have damage to the driver’s side and a flat tire.
Reportedly Thompson said he could not remember how his car got a flat tire and damage to its driver’s side. However the mystery did not remain a mystery for long as the trooper later discovered Thompson had had hit a bridge wall on the turnpike.
Allegedly Thompson’s breath test revealed a blood-alcohol content of 0.11 and he was arrested on a DUI charge.
Tulsa Jail records indicate that Thompson was arrested on a DUI charge at 3:00 a.m. on 12/05/08 and booked into the Tulsa jail at 5:30 a.m. Jail records also indicate that Thompson was released on $1,000 bond at 10:47 a.m. the same day.
Thompson in addition to being a former Creek County district judge is also a convicted felon and registered sex offender who was released from prison in April after serving two years of four one-year sentences on four felony counts of indecent exposure after being convicted on allegations that he used a penis pump, shaved his scrotum and masturbated while on the bench during trials in Creek County, Oklahoma in 2002 and 2003.
After what seems like years of trying, the feds have lost the battle to put former Oklahoma Senator Gene Stipe in prison, well other than for brief stays for evaluation.
U.S. District Judge Ronald A. White declared the 82-year-old mentally incompetent last month and in an order issued earlier this week dismissed the petition to revoke his probation. This brings to an end the government’s attempts to bring Stipe before the bar of justice.
The feds were after Stipe for a lot of reasons including allegations of violating his probation by funneling excessive amounts of money into Democrat campaigns through straw donors and allegations of associating with another felon, Steve Covington.
This latest action on the part of the federal court brings to an end all of those allegations, leaving Stipe at home under house arrest until January 26th at which time Stipe will be free of all federal oversight.
Although Gene Stipe has beaten the feds there is still a battle brewing in McAlester where attorney Eddie Harper, acting in his capacity as the legal guardian of Gene Stipe’s property, has brought a lawsuit against Stipe’s longtime friend and business associate Steve Covington.
The lawsuit accuses Covington of mishandling of Stipe’s business affairs to enrich himself at Stipe’s expense, using funds or property belonging to Stipe to pay his personal living expenses, credit card expenses, vehicle expenses and a wide range of purchases of goods and services for his personal use.
The law suit in addition to damages seeks the return of property which may have been conveyed to Covington or any of the management companies listed as defendants in court documents.
If Stipe’s representatives prevail, taxpayers in the county could end up paying Stipe $14,633.34 a month to lease one of the buildings in the dispute. It’s the very building where the case could be decided - the temporary Pittsburgh County Courthouse.
There’s never a dull moment where Gene Stipe is involved…
