Miami News-Record
Monday, September 16, 1996
Sheriff faces federal trial on gambling, extortion charges
TULSA, Okla. (AP) – A dispute over who should defend the suspended Ottawa County sheriff on charges of gambling extortion and obstruction of justice held up his federal trial this morning.
Judge H. Dale Cook closed the courtroom to the public to hear testimony from James Ed Walker on why he should be allowed to switch attorneys.
Walker, 48, filed a motion last week saying he felt the Stipe law firm could not properly defend him. He appeared this morning with attorneys for the firm and Tulsa lawyer Chad Richardson.
Richardson requested a continuance on Walker’s behalf, citing “conflicts” with his current lawyers.
Walker was indicted in May as part of a state and federal investigation into illegal gambling activity in northeastern Oklahoma and southeastern Kansas.
Many defendants in the case that resulted in 21 indictments have pleaded guilty and have agreed to cooperate with prosecutors in Walker’s trial, which was scheduled to begin today.
The first-term sheriff has characterized the matter as political. Walker did not run for re-election this year.
“I’m not accepting any plea bargain, and I will not resign until I’m forced to. I’ll fight this legally all the way and try to see it through,” Walker said last spring.
Five counts of the indictment accuse him of extorting payments out of men allegedly running illegal gambling businesses in northeast Oklahoma and Missouri.
Four counts of the indictment say Walker aided and abetted the operation of those illegal gambling sites. Three counts accuse Walker of conspiracy to obstruct justice.
“The machines were in those clubs before I came into office, and had been for a long time,” he said in an earlier interview. “Somebody’s decided to push this thing for some reason I think it’s a political deal to get me out of office.”
If convicted, Walker faces up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each count of extortion.
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