Published: March 18, 2008 09:52 am      

McMahan impeachment committee names special counsel in fraud case

OKLAHOMA CITY — A legislative committee that is investigating state Auditor and Inspector Jeff McMahan hired Edmond attorney Andrew W. Lester Monday as special counsel to collect evidence that will help the panel decide whether McMahan should be impeached.

The eight-member investigative committee voted unanimously to hire Lester at an organizational meeting where the panel’s co-chairmen said they want Lester and others in his law firm to start developing evidence and contacting possible witnesses in the impeachment case.

“He’s ready to work. His firm stands ready to do the job,” said Rep. David Braddock, D-Altus, co-chairman of the committee.

“This is going to require an enormous amount of work immediately,” said the panel’s chairman, Rep. Rex Duncan, R-Sand Springs. “There’s a lot of work to be done in the next two months.”

Panel members have said they want to wrap up the investigation by the end of May, when the Legislature must adjourn. McMahan is scheduled to go to trial on federal charges in June.

The House ordered the investigation in February, one month after McMahan, a Democrat who is serving his second term, and his wife, Lori, were indicted by a federal grand jury in Muskogee on nine counts including conspiracy, mail fraud and violating the Travel Act to commit bribery. The McMahans have pleaded not guilty.

The charges stem from dealings with southeast Oklahoma businessman Steve Phipps, who is identified in the nine-count indictment as a co-conspirator. If convicted on all counts, the McMahans could face up to 135 years in prison.

The investigative panel, made up of four Democratic and four Republican House members, will study McMahan’s activities and recommend whether the House should impeach him. A vote to impeach would lead to a trial in the Senate and removal from office if McMahan is convicted.

McMahan, who lives in Tecumseh, has not been to his state Capitol office since he turned over daily operations to Deputy State Auditor Michelle Day almost two months ago. But he continues to collect his $109,000 annual salary.

Committee members said part of Lester’s work will be securing the cooperation of federal investigators and prosecutors who developed the criminal case against McMahan. The chief prosecutor, U.S. Attorney Sheldon Sperling, has said he will “cooperate with anyone to the extent the law will permit me.”

But Sperling has also said he will be “very cautious” to protect McMahan’s rights and the integrity of the government’s investigation.

Lester, a partner in the law firm Lester, Loving & Davies, is a graduate of the Georgetown University Law School and has practiced law in Oklahoma since 1981. He is a former U.S. magistrate in Oklahoma City and served on transition teams following the elections of former President Ronald Reagan and Gov. Brad Henry, according to the law firm’s Web site.

Lester specializes in civil litigation, civil rights law, defamation law, employment litigation and local government law. His firm’s clients include SBC Communications, the cities of Ada, Kingfisher and Edmond and former Oklahoma State running back and Heisman Trophy winner Barry Sanders, according to the Web site.

One of Lester’s law partners is former state Attorney General Susan B. Loving, currently a member of the state Pardon and Parole Board. Braddock said Loving’s background and experience will be beneficial to the panel’s investigation.

“She brings a lot of credibility to the situation,” Braddock said.

Duncan said Lester will be paid between $250 and $275 an hour for his work and that the impeachment hearings for McMahan will be patterned after those for former Commissioner of Insurance Carroll Fisher four years ago.

Fisher resigned in September 2004 after being impeached by the House. He was convicted in February 2006 and is serving a three-year prison term for embezzling $1,000 from his campaign and lying on a contributions report. He still faces a tax-evasion charge.