Bubbaworld

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.

Case Update

On March 24, 2009 former Custer County Sheriff Mike Burgess was sentenced to 79 years in prison.

The jury had recommended a sentence of 94 years in prison and $15,000 in fines.