Witness: Morgan Was Paid For His Influence

Nolan Clay
The Oklahoman

A prosecution witness in a political corruption trial testified Tuesday that  her landfill development company paid a state Senate leader more than $141,000  for his influence in the Legislature, not for his legal advice.

The witness told jurors the company hired Mike  Morgan, then Senate president pro tem, in the summer of 2005 at the urging  of Oklahoma  City attorney Martin  Stringer.

“Martin Stringer, he said we needed him,” Edith  Denton testified in federal court in Oklahoma City. “It was to watch our  back.”

The testimony came on the second day of the bribery and conspiracy trial for  Morgan, Stringer and longtime lobbyist Andrew  Skeith.

Denton recalled that Stringer explained her company, Dilworth Development,  would need someone “in the Senate to be able to block things that were going to  cause us trouble.” The company had hired Stringer in 2003 to help in its plans  to build a landfill in Kay  County, which is in far north Oklahoma.

Denton, who lives in Blackwell, said after a year she wanted to stop paying  Morgan $4,166.66 a month because the senator was too expensive. She said their  attorneys advised her and other owners “it would be better if we paid him until  we got our permit.”

“Were you afraid not to?” Assistant U.S. Attorney Vicki Behenna asked.

“Yes,” she said.

Read more: http://newsok.com/witness-at-oklahoma-political-corruption-trial-testifies-then-senate-leader-was-hired-to-block-troublesome-legislation/article/3648986#ixzz1mRUNPhsB.


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  1. dick grace, 15 February, 2012

    Hey whats the problem. Oklahoma politics is just as sleazy as Chicago.

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