The Joplin Globe
Tuesday May 21, 1996
Indicted sheriff on Leave
By Gary Garton
Globe Baxter Springs Bureau
MIAMI, Okla. – Placing himself on voluntary leave of absence Monday, Ottawa County Sheriff Ed Walker said he will fight a federal grand jury indictment in court and if exonerated return to his duties.
Walker accepted an offer from the Ottawa County Commission to take a voluntary leave of absence from office with pay and benefits, pending the outcome of his federal court case.
The agreement specifies the office is not vacant, and that Under-sheriff Mike Smith will oversee the department. Walker is allowed to consult with Smith and was allowed to keep his two county radios.
The panel called Walker with a request that he suspend himself after being told by District Attorney Ben Loring there were no immediate grounds for filing an ouster action against the sheriff.
Last Wednesday, a federal grand jury in Tulsa issued an indctment accusing Walker of five counts of extortion, four counts of promoting illegal gambling and three counts of obstruction of justice in not enforcing gambling laws.
The charges came after an eight-month investigation by federal agencies into the distribution and operation of illegal gambling machines in Northeast Oklahoma.
Fifteen other people have been indicted by the grand jury or have had criminal information documents filed against them in federal court, relating to the alleged gambling ring in Ottawa County.
Walker is free on $20,000 bond pending his trial, and is prohibited by the court from carrying a gun or traveling outside the Northern District of Oklahoma while on bond.
Loring told commissioners Monday that Walker’s presence in the office could jeopardize his own safety because he would not be allowed of carry a weapon, and could jeopardize pending cases.
“With the sheriff under criminal indictment, every defense attorney in pending cases will make hay out of the fact that the sheriff also supervises the evidence locker, where our evidence against their clients is kept,” Loring said.
Commissioners also questioned the county’s civil-liability if they tried to remove Walker from office and he is exonerated on the federal charges, but also possibly for not taking any action to remove him from the daily operation of the office, if he is convicted.
Loring suggested the voluntary suspension or leave of absence, as the only compromise available.
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