Ex-security coordinator allegedly intimidated co-conspirators

LAWTON, Okla. (AP) -- A former Lawton school security coordinator denies he threatened his co-conspirator in an alleged scheme to get paid for security work that wasn't performed.<br/><br/>Federal

Friday, July 22nd 2005, 6:25 am

By: News On 6

LAWTON, Okla. (AP) -- A former Lawton school security coordinator denies he threatened his co-conspirator in an alleged scheme to get paid for security work that wasn't performed.

Federal prosecutors charged Mark McFarland and seven others on Wednesday with theft for allegedly cashing paychecks from the Lawton Public School District for nearly $500,000. More than a dozen others face state charges.

Former security worker Wanda Byrd sought an emergency protective order in October after McFarland allegedly threatened to kill her. Byrd is accused of receiving more than $22,000 for work she claimed her husband did, even though he was serving in Iraq at the time.

According to an affidavit, junior high school teacher Kathy Hicks claimed that McFarland told her she'd have to pay kickback money to keep the security jobs she and her husband had gotten.

She says McFarland told her he'd have friends who work at the Department of Human Services take her children away if she didn't cooperate.