Former state senator charged in election probe

Wednesday, March 26th 2003, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ Former state Sen. Gene Stipe was charged Wednesday with federal conspiracy and perjury counts that accuse the veteran senator of conspiring to funnel illegal contributions into a congressional campaign.

Stipe, who resigned on March 11 over the scandal, was charged with conspiracy to violate federal election laws. He's accused of funneling money into the 1998 congressional campaign of Walt Roberts.

Stipe, 76, is also accused of conspiring to obstruct an investigation into the illegal campaign contributions by the Federal Election Commission and of lying to investigators about the source of the money.

The charges were filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C.

No date has been set yet for a court hearing for Stipe, a McAlester Democrat, who served in the Legislature for more than a half century.

Stipe's personal assistant, Charlene Spears, a secretary in his law firm, pleaded guilty to two conspiracy counts _ one misdemeanor and one felony _ on Friday. Roberts pleaded guilty on March 5 to the same charges.

Both are scheduled for sentencing on July 15. The felony count carries up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The misdemeanor is punishable by up to one year in prison and a fine of $100,000 or 300 percent of the illegal contributions involved.

Roberts was the Democratic nominee in 1998. He lost to Republican Wes Watkins, who has since retired.

Another Stipe associate, former state Sen. Jim E. Lane, has also been charged with conspiracy to violate federal election laws. Lane is scheduled to enter a plea on March 28.

Lane, 68, worked for Stipe part time before Lane was convicted on state felony charges stemming from a scandal at the Oklahoma Department of Health. Lane served seven months of a five-year prison sentence for conspiring to defraud the state.