A Richard Gray Christmas Present
Former District Attorney Richard Gray
A Bubbaworld Editorial/Opinion
So what do you do for Christmas if you are a disgraced district attorney, defeated at election and facing charges for the embezzlement of seized drug money?
Well, if you are Richard Gray the disgraced District Attorney for Adair, Cherokee, Sequoyah and Wagoner Counties in Oklahoma you make a sweetheart deal with a major campaign contributor arrested on DUI and other charges. When the judges in the county where the arrest was made refuse to go along with your perversion of justice you take the case to a retiring judge in another county whose morals are just as weak as yours and cut the deal there.
As shocking as the above may seem, that is exactly what happened in late December, 2006 when Richard Gray cut such a deal with Ted E. Boswell Jr., 45, of Okay, OK who with his brother Ronnie Boswell each contributed the legal maximum of $5,000 to Gray's failed reelection bid. And of course one might suspect that since Ronnie Boswell's wife, Robyn Boswell was Richard Gray's office manager, that might also have had something to do with Gray's Christmas present to Mr. Boswell.
Ted E. Boswell Jr. was arrested by an Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper July 15 and booked into Wagoner County Jail on allegations of driving under the influence, driving at 90 mph in a 65 mph zone and not having seat belts in use. Boswell was not charged until August 3, when the Muskogee Phoenix began asking why charges had not filed against Boswell. On December 18th, Gray's office presented a plea deal that would reduce the charge against Boswell to reckless driving, and impose a fine of $250. Wagoner County District Judge Bruce Sewell refused to accept the plea agreement. Gray's office then took the same deal before Associate District Judge Darrell Shepherd, who also refused to accept it.
Never one to be deterred in the quest to pervert justice, Gray next had the sweetheart deal for Mr. Boswell brought before Adair District Judge John Garrett of Stilwell, who normally does not handle Wagoner County cases. Judge Garrett who did not seek re-election was evidently in the Christmas mood also, as he gave his wholehearted blessing to the deal. Judge Garrett's action had the following effects:
Reducing the charge of driving under the influence to reckless driving and imposing a fine of $250 and costs
Reducing a charge of speeding from 90 mph in a 65 mph zone to 74 mph in a 65 mph zone and imposing no fine but ordering Boswell to pay court costs.
Dismissing a charge of failure to use seat belts on payment of costs.
Judge Garrett also ordered that sentencing on the reckless driving count was deferred for 90 days and on the speeding count for 30 days. If Boswell does not get into trouble before the deferred sentence ends, all the charges could be dismissed and expunged from his record.
Isn't that a Christmas present that a major campaign contributor charged with DUI, speeding and no seatbelts could appreciate?
It certainly is the type of Christmas present one might expect from a District Attorney with the track record of Richard Gray.
Fortunately for the law abiding citizens of Oklahoma, both Richard Gray and John Garrett are no longer entrusted with upholding the laws of Oklahoma, as they both left office with the coming of the new year.
If the Oklahoma Attorney General gets his way, Richard Gray may once again become a 'state employee', one making license plates at the state prison, where in the opinion of this writer, he belongs.
