Court of Criminal Court judge went bankrupt in 2002

Sunday, January 16th 2005, 3:03 pm

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ An Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals judge who is under investigation by the attorney general's office went bankrupt in 2002 and lost his Norman home to foreclosure, The Oklahoman reported Wednesday.

Steve Lile, 57, an appeals judge for six years, has reimbursed the state $1,560.43 for improper purchases and $1,523.64 for questionable travel. He has refused to comment.

The probe centers on accusations Lillie allowed a secretary to be a ``ghost employee,'' that he allowed improper purchases for her from court funds and that he intervened in her son's criminal cases, the newspaper reported.

The secretary, Dawn Lukasik, 37, no longer works for the court. Her son, Loran Michael Wilson, 19, is serving a four-year prison sentence.

Federal bankruptcy records show Lile in March 2002 reported $125,250 in assets and $285,221 in debts.

He filed for bankruptcy even though he reported an annual income of more than $106,000. His wife filed for bankruptcy in 2001.

His debts included $85,852 on a home loan, $16,768 on a second mortgage, $38,431 in car loans and almost $25,000 in medical bills, as well as credit card debts and other loans, the records show.

Countrywide Home Loans foreclosed on Lile's Norman home in May 2003. It was sold at a sheriff's sale in October 2003. Lile now lives in Edmond.

Court records show Lile made a trip to Duncan in September on the same day Wilson was there for a court hearing.

Lile also visited Wilson during a June 24 tour of the Regimented Inmate Discipline (RID) boot-camp program at the William S. Key Correctional Center at Fort Supply, records show.

Lile reimbursed the state Jan. 6 for those trips and others. ``In order to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest concerning my activities on behalf of RID and my duties on the Court, I request that you use the enclosed funds to refund these claims,'' Lile wrote the Office of State Finance.

Lile's phone records - released Tuesday - show more than 20 long-distance calls were made from the Capitol to Wilson's attorney, Phil Scott of Waurika.

Also, Lile is listed as a friend on the convict's approved prison visitor list.

Wilson was sentenced to four years in prison in Stephens County on a drug conviction and probation in Comanche and Grady counties for concealing stolen property.

The convict's grandfather, Loran C. Wilson, 61, of Lawton said Tuesday, ``I think it's getting blowed way out of proportion as far as I can tell. ... I think they're probably making a mountain out of a molehill.''

The grandfather said he never saw Lile at any of Wilson's hearings ``and I've been to every one of these hearings.''

Lukasik was arrested Dec. 16 on suspicion of possession of methamphetamine after police searched her car during a stop. She was not charged.

Police Chief Harold Thorne of Lawton said the district attorney decided against filing a charge. The chief said three people were in the car, and it wasn't clear who was in possession of the substance.