Rinehart Donor Says He's Guilty

Oklahoma City engineer Bob Larkin has entered a guilty plea to a misdemeanor charge and agreed to a three-year deferred sentence plus a $1,500 fine for giving more than the legal limit to County Commissioner Brent Rinehart's campaign.

Rinehart and his former campaign manager, Tim Pope, face multiple felonies tied to Rinehart's 2004 campaign. Rinehart, 42, and Pope, 49, are charged with money laundering, conspiracy, and perjury. Attorney General Drew Edmondson filed the charges, claiming Pope and Rinehart solicited excessive campaign donations from at least three people and illegally funneled the money into Rinehart's campaign.

Larkin apparently has agreed to cooperate with prosecutors as they pursue the charges against Rinehart and Pope. Both men, Republicans, have declared their innocence and accused Edmondson, a Democrat, of playing politics by filing the charges against them.

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