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Gene Stipe

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Gene Stipe
Member of the Oklahoma Senate
from the 7th district
In office
December 11, 1956 – March 11, 2003
Preceded byKirksey M. Nix
Succeeded byRichard Lerblance
Constituency25th (1956-1963)
7th (1963-2004)
Member of the Oklahoma House of Representatives
from the Pittsburg County district
In office
November 16, 1948 – November 16, 1954
Preceded byC. Plowboy Edwards
Succeeded byWilliam H. Skeith
Personal details
BornOctober 21, 1926
Blanco, Oklahoma, U.S.
DiedJuly 21, 2012(2012-07-21) (aged 85)
McAlester, Oklahoma, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse(s)Agnes L. Minter (1949–2002), Mary Bea Thetford (2003–2012)
Children1
ResidenceMcAlester, Oklahoma
Alma materUniversity of Oklahoma College of Law
Nickname"the Prince of Darkness"

Eugene Edward "Gene" Stipe (October 21, 1926 – July 21, 2012) was an American politician from Oklahoma who holds the record as the longest serving member of the Oklahoma Senate. His influence in the state senate earned him the nickname "the Prince of Darkness," and he had a reputation for filibustering. He was a member of the Democratic Party.

Early life and career

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Gene Stipe was born in Blanco, Oklahoma, the son of Jacob Irvin Stipe, a farmer and coal miner, and Eva Lou Stipe.[1] He served in the United States Navy in the mid-1940s and became an ensign. In July 1946, he was an apprentice seaman aboard the destroyer USS Blue (DD-744) on a post World War II deployment.[2]

Oklahoma House of Representatives

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In 1948, Stipe was elected to the Oklahoma House of Representatives at the age of 21,[1] and served as Assistant Floor Leader from 1949 to 1953.[3]Stipe holds the record as being the longest serving elected official in Oklahoma history.[1] He graduated from University of Oklahoma College of Law while serving in the state House of Representatives, and living at the fire station in Norman, Oklahoma.[4] Stipe married Agnes L. Minter in 1949 and they had one daughter. They were married until her death in 2002.[5]

Oklahoma Senate

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Stipe did not seek re-election in 1954, but was an unsuccessful candidate for a Oklahoma Senate seat against Kirksey Nix. However, two years later Nix was elected to the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals and Stipe was elected to the state senate in a special election, serving from 1957 until his resignation in 2003, becoming the longest-serving member of that body. Around the 1970s, Stipe earned the nickname "the Prince of Darkness" for his influence in the state senate and his propensity to filibuster.[1]

Randall Herrod trial

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Further information: Sơn Thắng massacre

In 1970, Stipe and Republican state senator Denzil Garrison represented Randall Herrod, a Muscogee member of the United States Marine Corps who led the patrol that committed the Sơn Thắng massacre, during his court martial.[1] Garrison was quickly convinced to represent Herrod since his uncle saved him from a crashed aircraft during the Korean War.[6] Stipe had previously represented a Vietnam War fragging case in California and agreed to take the case with Garrison, serving as lead counsel.[7]

Stipe arrived in Da Nang on April 15, and quickly requested a delay until July to prepare his case for the trial.[8] Herrod's friend, Oliver North, later wrote Stipe offering to be a character witness in the trial.[9] Stipe filed several appeals on various grounds to the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, all of which were denied and delayed the trial.[10] He also aggressively used a provision of the military code allowing for voir dire military judges, remarking "I'll tell you, the Code's got a provision that enables you to voir dire the judge - it's a helluva tool!"[11]

Key to Herrod's defense, Stipe earned a favorable evidentiary ruling suppressing the use of photographs of the victims of the massacre, meaning they were not shown to the jury at Herrod's trial. The photos were admitted as evidence in the trial of every other perpetrator of the Sơn Thắng massacre.[12] Stipes closing arguments lasted nearly two hours and at one point compared Herrod to the Chicago Seven.[13] When Herrod was acquitted Stipe reportedly remarked "Anytime you walk your man you can't be too damn critical of the way the system works."[14]

1978 U.S. Senate campaign

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Further information: 1978 United States Senate election in Oklahoma

Stipe was a candidate for the U.S. Senate seat which was being vacated by Republican Dewey F. Bartlett in the 1978 election. He finished far behind Governor David L. Boren and former U.S. Congressman Ed Edmondson, a late entry in the race who finished a distant second in the primary and lost the runoff to Boren.[1]

Walter DeShazo trial

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Further information: Death of Henry Lee Johnson

In 1980 after the Death of Henry Lee Johnson, Stipe represented Johnson's alleged killer, Walter Anthony DeShazo, eventually earning an acquittal.[15][16]

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In 1968, Stipe was indicted on charges of federal income tax evasion for allegedly failing to pay taxes on $110,000 in income, but was later acquitted of the charges.[3]

In 1975, he was paid $100,000 plus expenses to assist William Con Sutherland in a bankruptcy case involving Sutherland's vending machine empire. Stipe was accused by bankruptcy trustees of taking his retainer fee from illegally diverted funds. In an out-of-court settlement, Stipe repaid $60,000 in order to resolve the dispute.[citation needed]

In 1979, Stipe was indicted by a federal grand jury for his role in securing a fraudulent Small Business Administration loan for McAlester Frozen Foods, a food processing company based in Stipe's district. He was acquitted on those charges in 1981. While awaiting trial in the SBA loan case, he was indicted by another federal grand jury on charges of fraud, extortion, and conspiracy relating to his intervention in an extradition case involving a Colorado man.[3]

Resignation and 2003 guilty plea

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Stipe resigned from the Oklahoma State Senate in March 2003, was succeeded in the State Senate by Richard Lerblance.[17] A month later, he pleaded guilty to federal charges of perjury, conspiracy to obstruct a Federal Election Commission investigation, and conspiracy to violate the Federal Election Campaign Act, relating to his alleged role in funneling illegal contributions to the failed 1998 congressional campaign of Walt Roberts in Oklahoma's 3rd congressional district.[18] He married Mary Bea Thetford in December 2003.[1]

In January, 2004, he was sentenced to five years' probation, six months' home detention, 1,000 hours of community service, and fined $735,567. Furthermore, he also agreed to forfeit both his license to practice law following his guilty plea.[19]

Possible probation revocation and 2007 indictment

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In September 2007, federal authorities filed a petition seeking to have Stipe's probation revoked as a result of his alleged ongoing relationship with his former business partner Steve Covington due to the latter's status as a convicted felon. On September 28, a federal judge ordered Stipe, who had hydrocephalus, diabetes and prostate cancer, to undergo a mental competency evaluation at the United States Medical Center for Federal Prisoners in Springfield, Missouri, following a parole revocation hearing in which Stipe required prompting from his attorneys to answer questions, and according to the judge, appeared to be drugged or hypnotized.[20] The request was subsequently denied in November, 2008, following the court's decision that Stipe was incompetent to face a probation revocation hearing and had effectively served the prison sentence he would have been given during his court-ordered mental competency evaluation.

While awaiting a determination on his competency to face probation revocation, Stipe and his brother, Francis, were indicted by a federal grand jury in another case on charges of mail fraud, witness tampering, money laundering and conspiracy, relating to their alleged role in a real estate deal involving a pet food company owned by another one of Gene Stipe's former business partners, Steve Phipps. The witness tampering charge stemmed from allegations that the Stipe brothers engaged in a conspiracy to influence the testimony of former Oklahoma State Representative Mike Mass by buying the mortgage on a home owned by Mass.[21] The indictment against Stipe was put on hold due to mental competency issues raised during a probation revocation hearing relating to a previous case against him, and Francis Stipe subsequently died following his guilty plea in the indictment.[22]

Stipe died on July 21, 2012 and was buried at Memory Gardens, McAlester, Oklahoma.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h O'Dell, Larry (September 11, 2023). "Stipe, Eugene Edward (1926-2012)". okhistory.org. Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture. Retrieved 31 October 2023.
  2. ^ "News of Our Men in Service", The McAlester News-Capital, McAlester, Oklahoma, 50th year, July 6, 1946. Page 3. (subscription required)
  3. ^ a b c Murphy, Sean (22 July 2012). "Storied Oklahoma politician Gene Stipe dies at 85". McAlester News-Capital. Associated Press. Retrieved 21 April 2024.
  4. ^ Greiner, John; Ellis, Randy (July 21, 2012). "Former Oklahoma State Sen. Gene Stipe dies at 85". The Oklahoman. Retrieved 21 April 2024.
  5. ^ "Agnes Stipe, Wife of Sen. Gene Stipe, Dies, Funeral Services Set for Wednesday in McAlester". oksenate.gov. Oklahoma Senate. 30 September 2002. Retrieved 19 April 2024.
  6. ^ Solis 1997, p. 219.
  7. ^ Solis 1997, p. 219-221.
  8. ^ Solis 1997, p. 92.
  9. ^ Solis 1997, p. 200.
  10. ^ Solis 1997, p. 225.
  11. ^ Solis 1997, p. 226.
  12. ^ Solis 1997, p. 226-227.
  13. ^ Solis 1997, p. 251.
  14. ^ Solis 1997, p. 255.
  15. ^ Lake, Charles S. (December 21, 1980). "Murder confession withheld from jury". Sapulpa Daily Herald. Vol. 67, no. 85 (1 ed.). Sapulpa, Oklahoma. UPI. Retrieved 2022-03-25 – via The Gateway to Oklahoma History.
  16. ^ "Idabel, Okla. Calm After Jury Acquits White". Law and Justice. Jet. Johnson Publishing Company. January 29, 1981. p. 46. Retrieved March 25, 2022 – via Google Books.
  17. ^ "State Rep Richard Lerblance now a State Senator". KOTV-DT. June 16, 2003. Retrieved 19 April 2024.
  18. ^ Myers, Jim (31 January 2004). "Stipe avoids prison sentence". Tulsa World. Retrieved 19 April 2024.
  19. ^ "Former Oklahoma State Senator Gene Stipe Sentenced for Perjury, Conspiracy, and Federal Elections Violations". www.justice.gov. United States Department of Justice. January 30, 2004. Retrieved 19 April 2024.
  20. ^ Hylton, Susan (September 11, 2007). "Stipe enters prison for evaluation". Tulsa World. Archived from the original on December 1, 2007. Retrieved 19 April 2024.
  21. ^ "Former State Senator Indicted". KOTV-DT. Associated Press. October 5, 2007. Archived from the original on December 16, 2007. Retrieved 19 April 2024.
  22. ^ Worley, Joe (5 October 2016). "Today in history". Tulsa World. Retrieved 19 April 2024.

Works cited

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