Pope Pleads Guilty In Rinehart Probe

Former Republican Rep. Tim Pope (at left in photo with Rinehart), the manager of former Oklahoma County Commissioner Brent Rinehart's 2004 campaign, pleaded guilty Wednesday in Oklahoma County District Court to a misdemeanor campaign finance violation.

Prosecutors, documents show, agreed to dismiss multiple felony counts if Pope pleaded guilty to one count of aiding and abetting a contributor in exceeding the statutory limit for campaign contributions.

The deal carries a three-year deferred sentence, a $500 fine and other costs.

As part of the deal, Pope also will end challenges to a federal civil judgment in a separate case.

The attorney general sued Pope for violating the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. Pope had challenged a $4,500 judgment in the case.

Pope also agreed to testify truthfully if called during Rinehart's trial, which is scheduled to begin in November.

Rinehart is charged with multiple felonies, including fraud and money laundering. Prosecutors claim he accepted campaign contributions over the legal limit from several contributors who have all pleaded guilty to misdemeanors in the case. Rinehart has denied any wrongdoing.

Image courtesy The Oklahoman.

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Rinehart Trial Decision Due July 24th

Oklahoma County District Judge Jerry Bass is expected to rule on July 24th whether County Commissioner Brent Rinehart will stand trial on felony charges.

The judge's ruling is expected after arguments made Tuesday by attorneys for Rinehart, former campaign manager Tim Pope and donor Ray Pelfrey. Their attorneys argued that prosecutors don't have sufficient evidence to sustain conspiracy, money laundering and perjury charges. However, a second donor who received a deferred sentence for cooperating with investigators will provide such evidence, prosecutors said.

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Developer Pleads Guilty, Will Testify Against Rinehart

Norman developer Jerl Methvin pleaded guilty to funneling improper campaign contributions to Oklahoma County Commissioner Brent Rinehart and will testify for the state against Rinehart, who faces trial on September 22nd.

Methvin is the second person to plead guilty in the case. Earlier, Midwest City engineer Robert Larkin was placed on a three-year deferred sentence after pleading guilty and agreeing to testify against Rinehart and his former campaign manager, former State Rep. Tim Pope.

Methvin was given a six-month deferred sentence and ordered to pay court costs. He admitted making a donation to a political candidatein excess of the legal limit of $5,000.

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Henry Rejects Reynolds's Request For Probe

Rep. Mike Reynolds asked the governor Friday to appoint an independent special counsel to examine some questionable campaign contributions made by the attorney general the past several years, but Governor Henry rejected the request immediately.

Attorney General Drew Edmondson had used money from his own re-election campaign fund to contribute to other campaigns. Edmondson said last spring that when he discovered the mistake, he reimbursed his campaign.

Paul Sund, a spokesman for Henry, said the state Ethics Commission "is tasked with regulating the issue in question, so there is no need to appoint a special prosecutor."

Edmondson announced last spring that Oklahoma County Commissioner Brent Rinehart and his campaign manager, Tim Pope, had been charged with criminal felony counts of laundering campaign money and conspiracy.

After Rinehart and Pope were charged, Reynolds, R-Oklahoma City, accused Edmondson of making illegal campaign contributions. The attorney general issued a statement Friday saying that Reynolds' request of the governor for a special counsel "is a blatant and pathetic attempt to give cover to his political cronies, Brent Rinehart and Tim Pope."

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Rinehart, Pope Trial Set For September 22nd

Oklahoma County Commissioner Brent Rinehart, who faces felony campaign finance charges, will go to trial on September 22nd along with former campaign manager Tim Pope and contributor Ray Pelfrey, a judge ruled today.

Their trial date was set today in Oklahoma County District Court.

They are accused of conspiring to funnel excessive contributions to Rinehart's 2004 commissioner campaign through Pope's political action committee.

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Rinehart, Pope, Pelfrey Bound Over For Trial

County Commissioner Brent Rinehart, former State Rep. Tim Pope and Midwest City businessman Ray Pelfrey were bound over for trial in Oklahoma County District Court today.

The charges they face grew out of an investigation into the financing of Rinehart's campaign.

Special Judge James Paddleford announced the decision after a long weekend of reviewing the case presented by the Attorney General's office. Paddleford said in his opinion that there is sufficient evidence to put Rinehart, former legislator turned political consultant Pope and Pelfrey on trial.

Stephen Jones of Enid, Tim Pope’s attorney, responded to the court finding: "The prosecution of Tim Pope is dishonest, unfair and political. Tim has tremendous community support from his friends in the Legislature and in politics, his clients, his family and his church. They stand by him and his day of vindication is coming. We intend to show in the weeks and months ahead that this charge is politically inspired, selective prosecution, and is based upon a house of cards which will crumble."

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Judge To Decide Fate Of Rinehart, Pope, Pelfrey

An Oklahoma County judge must figure out whether county Commissioner Brent Rinehart lied to cover up illegal campaign contributions or merely engaged in politics as usual. The decision by Judge James Paddleford will determine whether Rinehart, former campaign manager Tim Pope and contributor Ray Pelfrey face trial on felony campaign finance charges. Read the entire story at www.newsok.com.

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Rinehart Sought PAC Donation, Engineer Testifies

Oklahoma County Commissioner Brent Rinehart asked a contributor for more money during his 2004 campaign, even though he already had given the maximum amount allowed by law, that donor testified this morning in Rinehart's preliminary hearing. Midwest City engineer Robert Larkin said he gave Rinehart three checks while he was running for county commissioner, but the candidate wanted more. Later, Larkin struggled to recall details of conversations with Rinehart. Read the entire story at http://www.newsok.com/.

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Rinehart, Pope Hearing Gets Underway

State prosecutors today presented an Oklahoma County judge with paperwork to support campaign finance charges against Commissioner Brent Rinehart, his former campaign manager Tim Pope and a contributor. Read about it at http://newsok.com/article/3157489/1193423993

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Rinehart Case: Pelfry Now Faces Felony Charges

Ray Pelfry, 67-year-old Del City businessman, now faces felony charges of conspiracy, knowingly accepting an illegal campaign contribution and money laundering, charges upgraded from the previous misdemanor count of violating campaign laws he faced. Pelfy is charged in the alleged illegal financing of County Commissioner Brent Rinehart's 2004 campaign.

Charlie Price, spokesman for Attorney General Drew Edmondson, said the new charges were filed after review of details of the alleged scheme to funnel illegal donations into Rinehart's campaign. Pelfry is one of five men facing charges in the case.

Rinehart and former State Rep. Tim Pope, his campaign manager, face a July 6th preliminary hearing on counts of conspiracy, money laundering and perjury. They deny wrongdoing.

One person charged in the alleged scheme has reached a plea agreement with prosecutors and is assisting them, it was reported earlier.

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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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Rinehart Returns Questioned Campaign Donations

Oklahoma County Commissioner Brent Rinehart said today he's returned questionable campaign donations that resulted in the filing of felony charges against him and his campaign manager, former State Rep. Tim Pope. Rinehart, a former Oklahoma City councilman, and Pope, manager of Rinehart's campaign, face charges of perjury, conspiracy and money laundering for allegedly funneling illegal campaign contributions into Rinehart's 2004 campaign for county commissioner.

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Rinehart, Pope Post Bail, Declare Innocence

Oklahoma County Commissioner Brent Rinehart and former State Rep. Tim Pope posted bail on felony charges today and declared they are innocent.

They arrived at the Oklahoma County complex in mid-morning accompanied by attorneys. A sheriff's deputy appeared to be escorting Rinehart. When they failed to appear yesterday, warrants were issued for their arrests.

Rinehart and Pope face multiple felony charges as the result of a probe by the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation into the financing of Rinehart's 2004 campaign, which Pope, a political consultant, managed.

Rinehart surprised fellow commissioners when he appeared at a meeting to declare he is innocent of the "political" charges.

Three others (see story below) also face charges, although they are less serious than those facing Rinehart and Pope.

Rinehart faces 10 felony counts; Pope faces eight felony counts.

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KTOK: Rinehart, Pope Face Charges

From KTOK Radio News ~ Oklahoma County Commissioner Brent Rinehart was named today on numerous felony charges including conspiracy, money laundering and perjury.

The charges were filed at mid-afternoon.

Former State Representative Tim Pope also faces allegations connected to Rinehart, as do three others. The various charges include conspiracy to commit a felony, knowingly accepting illegal campaign contributions, state money laundering and perjury.

Three Rinehart contributors, developers Jerl Methvin, Ray Pelfrey and Robert Larkin, were each charged with one misdemeanor count of violating campaign laws by donating more than $5,000 to a political candidate.

"There is no foundation to it,” said Enid attorney Stephen Jones, representing Pope. "It is politically inspired, and it is retaliatory. It is abuse of the attorney general's power to proceed. We will fight and defend it.”

It is possible the other commissioners will move to remove Rinehart from office; they will meet Friday to discuss the situation. Attorney General Drew Edmondson indicated that if they do not act, he may do so.

Former Oklahoma County Commissioner Jack Cornett chuckled upon hearing the news that Rinehart, the man who beat him in the 2004 campaign, had been hit with criminal campaign fundraising charges: "I feel honestly, I feel like justice is shaped up here."

He was aware of the OSBI investigation into the fundraising by Rinehart, former legislator Tim Pope and three others and was interviewed by agents. "Took a long time, but I was really not convinced that the state was gonna get him--he's pretty slippery in my opinion," said Cornett, referring to Rinehart. "From my standpoint, it took a long time but from his standpoint it was probably pretty quick."

And does it now open the door for his return to politics? Would he consider being County Commissioner again? "I would if, I don't know if it's legally possible. But looks to me if fraud's been done, it opens up a whole new election."

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Tim Pope Fined $4,500 For Robocalls

Former State Rep. Tim Pope has been fined $4,500 for placing robocalls in last year's election. Enid attorney Stephen Jones, representing Pope (who was accused of breaking a federal law on the use of pre-recorded telephone messages) plans to appeal the fine levied by U.S. District Judge Robin Cauthron.

The judge did agree with Pope and Jones in ordering the fine, which could have gone as high as $10 million if Cauthron had determined Pope was responsible for 20,000 illegal calls, as originally alleged by Attorney General Drew Edmondson.

About half of the calls with a message attacking an Oklahoma County commissioner were answered, according to court papers, so state prosecutors suggested a fine of $100 per call.

Pope and Jones argued that a smaller fine was appropriate, since only nine people complained to the attorney general's office about the January 2006 calls. Cauthron sided with Pope in assessing a $500 fine for each complaint.

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Pope Faces Possible Huge Fine

Former State Rep. Tim Pope broke the law a year ago when he paid for automated calls attacking Oklahoma County Commissioner Jim Roth, U. S. District Judge Robin Cauthron has ruled. Pope, who heads the Oklahoma Republican Assembly, faces fines that could total as much as $10 million.

The Telephone Consumer Protection Action requires prerecorded telephone calls to identify who paid for them. The 20,000 calls Pope placed did not meet that requirement. The calls accused Roth of "advancing the homosexual agenda in Oklahoma County."

Pope's attorney, Stephen Jones of Enid, said he's disappointed by the ruling; he believes the calls were protected by the First Amendment.

Pope could be fined as much as $500 per call.

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