Rinehart, Pope charged in campaign case

By Bryan Dean, Jay F. Marks and John Estus

Published: April 6, 2007

Oklahoma County Commissioner Brent Rinehart and his former campaign manager, Tim Pope, were accused in a felony case Thursday of illegally financing Rinehart's 2004 campaign with excessive contributions from three donors.

Both are charged with money laundering, conspiracy, perjury and other counts. If convicted, they could go to prison. Neither man had turned himself in by 10 p.m. Thursday. Warrants were issued for their arrest.

Three of Rinehart's donors were charged with misdemeanors. Investigators said at least one admitted giving excessive donations.

"It's basically a simple scheme,” Attorney General Drew Edmondson said.

The charges were filed Thursday afternoon in Oklahoma County District Court by Edmondson's office.

The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation began looking into Rinehart's finances after a February 2006 investigation by The Oklahoman, which found several donors who had given the maximum allowed $5,000 to Rinehart's 2004 campaign also gave money to the Oklahoma Republican Assembly, a political action committee run by Pope.

Rinehart could not be reached for comment. Attorney Merle Gile, who has represented Rinehart in the past, said he has not been able to reach Rinehart and knew nothing about the charges.

Pope referred questions to his attorney, Stephen Jones. Jones said the charges were politically motivated.

"There is no foundation to it,” Jones said. "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.”

Three Rinehart contributors — developers Jerl Methvin, 49, Ray Pelfrey, 67, and engineer Robert Larkin, 70 — each were charged with a misdemeanor count of violating campaign laws by donating more than $5,000 to a political candidate.

Edmondson, a Democrat, said the charges resulted from an exhaustive OSBI investigation, not a political vendetta.

"We have proceeded against political corruption, regardless of party,” he said.

He noted most defendants in such cases during his tenure have been Democrats.

Larkin declined to comment. Lou Keel, an attorney representing Pelfrey, said the charges were complicated, and he had not had the opportunity to thoroughly review them.

"We anxiously await our opportunity to explain our side of it in court,” Keel said.

A man who answered the phone at Methvin Enterprises said Jerl Methvin was out of town and unavailable to comment.

The charges against Rinehart and Pope carry penalties of more than 10 years in prison and $25,000 fines.

The misdemeanor charges against Methvin, Pelfrey and Larkin carry a maximum penalty of up to a year in prison and fines of up to three times the amount of the alleged illegal contributions.

An affidavit written by an OSBI agent states Larkin admitted in interviews to donating more than $5,000 to Rinehart. Larkin told agents he gave Rinehart $5,000 in checks, along with $1,000 in cash.

He also wrote a check to Pope's political action committee and gave it to Rinehart, the affidavit states, with the condition that the money would only go to Rinehart's campaign.

Another affidavit stated Pelfrey gave $3,990.50 to Rinehart in checks and in-kind contributions. He then wrote a $2,000 check in response to a request by Rinehart, with Rinehart telling him the check would be collected by "someone from a campaign helping Rinehart,” the affidavit states.

Methvin gave $5,000 to Rinehart's campaign, court records state. He told agents Rinehart and Pope told him they needed more money for printing. Methvin gave Pope a $2,500 cashier's check for use in the Rinehart campaign, according to court records.

Last year, Pope told The Oklahoman he showed Methvin a copy of the mailing he planned to send on Rinehart's behalf.

The cost of the mailing was listed on Rinehart's campaign finance reports as an in-kind donation from the Oklahoma Republican Assembly. An affidavit states Rinehart personally ordered the mailing.

Prosecutors claim Rinehart and Pope perjured themselves by lying in documents filed with the state Ethics Commission. The documents showed the contributions were made to the Oklahoma Republican Assembly when they were specifically earmarked for Rinehart's campaign and should have been listed on his campaign filings, prosecutors said.

Edmondson said some of the mailings were ordered before Pope created the political action committee.

Pope was fined $4,500 last month in connection with a federal civil lawsuit on the use of pre-recorded telephone messages. The calls targeted District 1 Commissioner Jim Roth, one of Rinehart's political enemies.

Edmondson said the other two Oklahoma County commissioners can take action to suspend Rinehart or have him removed from office. If they do not, prosecutors can initiate such proceedings.

"We're certainly going to wait and see,” he said.

Edmondson said he doesn't think any elected official facing allegations like the ones levied against Rinehart should remain in office.

Roth said it is too early to tell whether commissioners will try to remove Rinehart from office. He has asked the Oklahoma County district attorney's office what steps he and District 3 Commissioner Ray Vaughn can take.

Roth has asked specifically whether commissioners can take steps to remove or suspend Rinehart from office, limit him from spending public funds or limit his decision-making authority.

Roth said he and other elected officials will not comment specifically on the case until today, after they have had a chance to review the charges.

Edmondson said prosecutors will seek proper punishments for Rinehart and Pope, if they are convicted, but have not decided whether to push for prison time.

"That remains to be seen,” he said. "Those decisions are made during the course of the prosecution. It depends, in some part, on the attitude of the defendants.”

Contributing: Nolan Clay, Staff Writer