McMahan Admits He Lied To FBI Agents

By Tony Thornton/The Oklahoman In Muskogee ~ State Auditor and Inspector Jeff McMahan admitted in federal court today that he gave investigators different stories about jewelry given to his wife, Lori, by southeast Oklahoma businessman Steve Phipps.

McMahan and his wife are on trial on eight federal felony counts related to their association with Phipps, whose abstract companies were regulated by the auditor's office.

Yesterday, Lori McMahan, 43, spent nearly three hours under cross-examination by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan Roberts, who tried to point the inconsistencies in her stories.

Jeff McMahan said under oath today that the first time he was questioned by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, he said Phipps only gave his wife a set of $50 earrings. The second time he questioned, however, McMahan said his wife received two pieces of jewelry, but he thought she had returned them.

McMahan also denied being present at dinner at a restaurant in Shawnee, where his wife was given $10,000 in cash for McMahan's election campaign. McMahan told the jury that he has never done any political favors for anyone.

McMahan was expected to be on the witness stand the rest of the day today.

Earlier, Lori McMahan, a fifth-grade schoolteacher, admitted telling lies to her husband, to her alleged co-conspirators and to the FBI but said she began telling the truth on Aug. 23, 2007. That was the day FBI agents searched the McMahans' home in Tecumseh.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan Roberts tried repeatedly to elicit an admission that Jeff McMahan, 48, knew about cash, jewelry and trips Phipps provided. Each time, Lori McMahan said she kept her husband in the dark.

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