District Attorney Richard Gray
Indicted By Multi-County Grand Jury
On September 24, 2006 in a Cherokee County court room District Judge Bruce Sewell unsealed an indictment charging Richard Gray, the District Attorney for Adair, Cherokee, Sequoyah and Wagoner counties, with embezzling a total of $8,864 in seized drug money on March 25, 2004.
The indictment alleges that Gray took $2,330 and $6,534 from a drug task force safe and that the removal by Gray was witnessed by other people. It is alleged that Gray indicated he was going to place the funds in a safety deposit box and that the funds were never deposited with the county treasurer, as required by law.
The missing funds came to light as the result of a state audit released in June of this year. The audit report revealed numerous problems with drug seizure accounts, including over $14,000 in missing funds.
Gray and his attorney, Clark Brewster of Tulsa who earlier this year
unsuccessfully defended 'Masturbating Judge Donald Thompson',
proclaimed his innocence and said they expected that Gray would be vindicated.
Gray was quoted in media reports as stating:
I've spent my whole career believing in the system.
There's no reason to believe it won't prevail at this time.
Brewster stated that there's nothing to the embezzlement charge and further indicated that Gray would not resign from office. Gray has less than three months left in office, following his defeat in the August primary election.
Gray is the third person from his office to be indicted this year by the multi-county grand jury. Former assistant district attorney Janet Bickel previously pled guilty to a charge of offering false drug evidence and also to a charge of perjury. She received a five year deferred sentence. Former drug task force director and office manager Vyrl Keeter pleaded guilty to perjury and was given a five year suspended sentence. Both are listed as witnesses against Gray.
Regarding Gray, the scandals that have swept his office and his indictment
Assistant Oklahoma Attorney General Joellyn McCormick was quoted as stating:
This shows a pattern of corruption, a pattern of behavior, that carried
through his administration. It shows a total disregard for how the
people's business should be handled.
McCormick further described Gray's single term in office as "institutionalized
corruption".
Following the unsealing of the indictment Gray was arrested and then released on $2,000 bail. No further court date was scheduled. Judge Sewell will be recused from the remainder of Gray's case. Okfuskee County Associate District Judge David Martin will handle preliminary hearings and Okmulgee County District Judge John Maley has been assigned to preside over any trial.
Commentary and Opinion From Bubbaworld
If anything good can be said about Richard Gray's four years as District Attorney it would have to be that it is almost over. Hopefully the criminal justice system in the four counties can survive what is arguably the most scandal riddled administration in memory.
Although Richard Gray frequently blames his administration's problems on the previous district attorney, the fact remains that the 'drug money' Gray now stands accused of stealing disappeared in the middle of his watch, not that of his predecessor.
Likewise, it was Gray's assistant district attorney Janet Bickel and office manager Vyrl Keeter that pleaded guilty to felony offenses, not those of his predecessor.
Gray through his attorney Clark Brewster has already announced he will attempt to place the blame for the missing 'drug money' on others, yet unnamed. Are we really surprised that a person that refuses to admit their own mistakes, shortcomings and failures is going to blame someone else for the theft of the missing money?
In August, 2006 the voters in District 27 handed down their verdict and Richard Gray was defeated in the run-off election. It will be interesting to see what verdict a trial jury will hand down, if and when this case makes it to trial.
In the mean time you can count on DA Richard Gray blaming someone else for everything that goes wrong.
That's just the way he is...
