(Oilton, Okla.) – Oilton Mayor Patrick Leon Kennedy has pleaded not guilty to felony charges of embezzlement and making/receiving kickbacks in a allegation of official misconduct case investigated by the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation on the request of the Creek County District Attorney, court records show.
Kennedy, 63, who has been ordered to stand trial on one count of embezzlement and two counts of making/receiving a kickback, remains free on $30,000 bond pending a Dec. 12 motion hearing in the Bristow division of Creek County District Court.
Defense attorney Cheryl Ramsey of Stillwater, who could not be reached for comment this morning, has filed a motion asking a judge to order the prosecution to produce all law enforcement reports made by the Oilton Police Department, Creek County Sheriff’s Office and the OSBI.
The defense is also seeking information as to whether any potential criminal charges against cooperating individuals were abandoned in exchange for their testimony or if they have been offered immunity in return for their testimony or documents, according to the motion.
The defense also is seeking to learn“whether any government witness or informant, who were participants in the crimes alleged, although not charged in the information, has ever been known by the government or its agents to have stolen anything, made any false reports and/or distributed or used any controlled substance,” according to the motion.
Two workers, who were reportedly involved in the case, were not charged since the mayor allegedly “coerced them to participate based on his control over their jobs,” according to an OSBI news release.
“The OSBI began investigating allegations of Oilton’s mayor improperly embezzling money,” in the summer of 2017, according to the news release.
“During the investigation, OSBI learned Patrick Kennedy, the town’s mayor and supervisor over the Oilton Public Works Authority (OPWA), needed to spend $8,000 left of a loan from the Oklahoma Water Resources Authority or lose that money.
“Kennedy met with two OPWA workers and proposed he would approve them to receive contractor payments in exchange for splitting the payments with him,” the OSBI news release alleged.
“One of the workers would inspect repairs to a sewer line, while the other would install an air conditioner in the city sewer plant,” the OSBI news release alleged.
“When the work was completed in October 2016, the two men prepared invoices for the work – work performed while being paid by OPWA for regular jobs,” the OSBI news release alleged.
“Both men received payments from OPWA for that extra work. After they were paid, Kennedy met with the two men at the OPWA office,” the OSBI news release alleged.
“There, the workers split the cash with Kennedy in exchange for his approving them to do the work and approval of the invoices the men submitted. Kennedy received more than $5,000 in cash,” the OSBI news release alleged.
After an interview with the mayor at his Oilton home, an OSBI agent arrested him in January on a warrant accusing Kennedy of two counts of making/receiving a kickback and one count of embezzlement, according to the news release.
Although a Nov. 1 court minute indicated that the prosecution advised the judge a petition to oust the mayor from office had or would be filed, none was shown in the Creek County court records as of this morning.
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