Francis Stipe Jury To Resume Wednesday

Muskogee ~ A federal jury will resume deliberations Wednesday morning in the case against McAlester businessman Francis Stipe after failing to reach a verdict today.

The jury deliberated 12 hours on Monday night and Tuesday, which was not a surprise to an assistnat U. S. Attorney handling the case.

Stipe is charged with conspiracy, mail fraud, witness-tampering and engaging in an illegal monetary transaction.

The case alleges that $191,000 was steered from the Legislature to buy property owned by Francis Stipe’s brother, former Democratic Senator Gene Stipe, for a dog food plant in 2002.

Francis Stipe was president of the McAlester Foundation, the agency that administered the state funds.

The jury is sorting through 45 exhibits and 600,000 pages of documents in the case.

U.S. District Judge Ronald White said Tuesday that he had no reason to believe the jury was deadlocked. He told attorneys that on Wednesday morning he would encourage the jury to work together.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Gay Guthrie said Tuesday he wasn’t surprised that the jury had deliberated 12 hours without reaching a verdict.

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