Judge tosses Stipe probation petition

By James Beaty
Senior Editor

November 21, 2008 11:43 am

— The judge calls it “rough justice.”
U.S. District Judge Ron White at the Eastern District of Oklahoma federal courthouse in Muskogee has dismissed a petition by federal prosecutors seeking to revoke former state Sen. Gene Stipe’s probation.
In his order dismissing the case, White concluded by saying “The sealed medical report regarding the defendant’s competency provided substantial evidence that he handled incarceration very poorly.”
“Perfect justice is often elusive,” White said. “Rough justice must therefore suffice.”
White also said that Stipe, 82, of McAlester, has essentially already served the sentence he would have been given if his probation had been revoked, through his two court-ordered stays at the U.S. Medical Center for Prisoners in Springfield, Mo.
In issuing the order dismissing the petition, White said “The court has previously found that the defendant (Stipe) is incompetent and that, after hospitalization, the defendant’s mental condition has not improved as to permit proceedings to go forward.”
U.S. Eastern District of Oklahoma U.S. Attorney Sheldon Sperling’s office had sought to revoke Stipe’s probation based on allegations that he continued to associate with Steve Covington, of McAlester, after their probation officer ordered them to disassociate because both had prior felony convictions.
In court documents, it had been maintained that Covington handled many of Stipe’s business matters and he also helped Stipe personally.
White added some written comments in his order about how he thinks the case to revoke Stipe’s probation would have transpired if it had moved forward.
White said in the order that Stipe, through his attorneys, had essentially admitted having unauthorized contact with Covington and “had the proceedings run their normal course, it is quite likely that a violation would have been found.”
White said the sentencing range for such a probation violation would have been from four to 10 months.
“The likely sentence by the court, somewhere in the four- to six-month range, has already been served by the defendant in his stays at the U.S. Medical Center for Prisoners in Springfield, Mo.,” White said in the order.
White had previously ordered Stipe to spend two separate stays in the federal medical center.
The first, for two weeks, was for Stipe’s mental competency to be assessed. The second, which began last May, was a four-month stay to see if the court believed Stipe’s competency could be improved enough for him to assist his attorneys in defending himself against the federal complaints.
During a three-hour hearing held in October, White had ruled that “I heard no evidence about improvement — none.”
“This case will not go forward,” White said in October, However, it had remained on the books until White’s order dismissing the petition to revoke the case.
Michael Burrage, one of Stipe’s attorneys and a former federal judge, said last month that Stipe is expected to remain under house arrest in McAlester until the end of his probationary period in January.
Another federal case, in which Stipe had been indicted by a grand jury on charges including conspiracy, witness tampering and illegal monetary transactions, is still on file at the federal courthouse. It had been placed on hold while the court determined the issue of Stipe’s competency.
In addition to the complaints regarding the alleged continued association with Covington, federal prosecutors had also attempted to revoke Stipe’s probation on grounds that he allegedly had become involved in another scheme to have straw donors donate money which was not their own to political campaigns.
Stipe is currently on probation until Jan. 26 for conspiracy and obstruction of a Federal Election Commission investigation into illegal donations made to Walt Roberts’ failed 1998 Congressional campaign.
Contact James Beaty at jbeaty@mcalesternews.com.

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