Gene Stipe Released From Prison Hospital

Associated Press

MUSKOGEE, Okla. (AP) -- A federal judge has ordered the release of former state Sen. Gene Stipe from a prison hospital in Missouri.

U.S. District Judge Ronald White on Tuesday ordered Stipe to comply with the previous conditions of his release.

The 81-year-old Stipe has been undergoing court-ordered mental competency testing and treatment since May 23. Federal law limited Stipe's stay to four months.

It's been 10 months since White declared Stipe mentally incompetent to face a probation revocation proceeding.

Stipe is on probation for his 2003 guilty plea in a federal campaign fraud case.

He also faces a new indictment accusing him of conspiring to have several hundred thousand dollars in state money benefit a dog food plant he secretly co-owned.

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