Police Arrest Ex-Con, One Of Tulsa's Most Wanted

Police have arrested a serial criminal who earlier this month was named one of Tulsa's most wanted.

Ex-convict Kenneth Mark Etter, 52, was taken into custody after police received a tip he was located at the 300 block of East Third Street, according to a statement from Tulsa police.

Etter had 14 outstanding warrants for failure to pay court costs in felony cases dating back to 1991. He was also wanted in his most recent charges of uttering a forged instrument (2009).

According to court records and the Oklahoma Department of Corrections, Etter has been convicted of a dozen felonies since the early 90s, including escaping from a penal institution, knowingly receiving stolen property, second-degree burglary and multiple convictions for grand larceny and false declaration of ownership in a pawn exchange.

Each time Etter was released, he ended up in prison again in less than a year.

2/11/2013 Related Story: Tulsa's Most Wanted Has Long History Of Serving Time

Etter's latest criminal charges came in 2009, for uttering a forged instrument. The case is still pending. In March 2012, court records show the founder of a local charity, a friend of Etter's minister father, wrote a letter pleading the court to keep Etter out of the prison system.

"I humbly ask you for leniency in [the forgery case] on compassionate grounds and asking you to keep Mr. Etter out of prison," the letter stated. "There's no need to send him to prison, we both know the prison is overburdened. Community service at his dad's charity, ankle monitoring, house arrest or any other alternative punishment other than prison. Mr. Etter has turned over a new leaf and is serving the Lord and helping others… with [their] substance abuse problems."

Etter's father also wrote a letter pleading the court to allow the ex-con to serve his sentence in at the family's food pantry. His father's letter also indicated his wife's death came just after their son's last release from the state penitentiary.

"Kenneth by GOD'S grace is now a changed man…" his father wrote. "We serve 15 hundred [sic] or more from our pantry every month. Dear Sir I need him so very very much here at home and in the church to keep helping me as I'm now 78 years old and his mother who is now in Heaven since Oct this year lived long enough to see her prayers for him answered."

Less than two months after the letters on Etter's behalf were filed with the court, a warrant was issued because he failed to appear in the case, and his bond was vacated.

When he was picked up on Thursday for the multiple outstanding warrants, Etter reportedly was in possession of drugs and paraphernalia, according to the booking report.