Claremore Man Sentenced To Prison In Tulsa Public Works Bribery Scandal

NewsOn6.com

TULSA, OK -- An accountant for a Tulsa engineering firm was sentenced in federal court Tuesday for bribing a Tulsa public works official, according to a news release from United States Attorney Thomas Scott Woodward.

Stuart Jay Franklin, 49, of Claremore, an accountant for FBS, Inc., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Terence Kern to 30 months confinement in the Federal Bureau of Prisons and was ordered to make restitution to the City of Tulsa in the amount of $51,825.

Franklin was originally charged in a Grand Jury indictment unsealed in January 2009 for his participation in a bribery scheme involving a Tulsa public works project. He plead guilty on September 16, 2009, to a charge of Bribery. Franklin admitted that he paid a $6,150 bribe to former Tulsa Public Works Field Engineering Manager Albert Martinez in September 2008 to influence the awarding of a city contract to FBS, Inc., a Tulsa engineering consulting firm.

Franklin is the fifth defendant to be sentenced to federal prison in this case.

1/11/2010  Related Story: Former Tulsa Public Works Official Heading To Federal Prison

The scandal involving the Tulsa Public Works Department was first revealed to the public on January 22, 2009, when the federal indictments were unsealed and an announcement was made at a news conference.

The announcement was made then that two former managers at the City of Tulsa Public Works

Department and four area businessmen were charged by a Federal Grand Jury for their participation in bribery and fraud schemes involving millions of dollars intended for city streets, bridges and other public works projects in the City of Tulsa.