Tulsa World Online: Mike Easley Resigns To Avoid Prosecution For Embezzlement

From TulsaWorld.com ~ ABLE Supervisor Mike Easley resigned his job Tuesday and has repaid the state $4,000 as part of an agreement with the attorney general's office, records show.

The deferred prosecution agreement bars him from working for the state or in law enforcement. It states Easley will repay the state $4,044 in restitution.

Easley had been fired from the Alcoholic Beverage Laws Enforcement Commission in April 2006 after an investigation into his use of a state car and payroll claims. The Oklahoma Merit Protection Commission ordered him reinstated Dec. 14, saying ABLE had not presented sufficient evidence to support his firing.

The deferred prosecution agreement signed by Easley states that the attorney general "has sufficient evidence to charge Michael Easley with embezzlement by officer ... including misuse of state property, misuse of state time, and improper reimbursement requests."

"We have resolved the Mike Easley matter in a manner that best meets the interests of justice and judicial economy," said Attorney General Drew Edmondson.

Easley was stopped by a state trooper on the Muskogee Turnpike Oct. 19, 2005, while using his emergency lights. Easley told troopers he was late to teach a class at Bacone College in Muskogee. Time sheets showed that Easley claimed to be working for ABLE during days when he was teaching courses at Bacone and Northeastern State University's Broken Arrow campus.

Easley is a 19-year veteran of ABLE and is special agent in charge of the northern district. He is the brother of Kevin Easley, a former state senator who is now chief executive officer of the Grand River Dam Authority. Their mother is Sen. Mary Easley of Tulsa.

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