Published: August 08, 2007 03:38 pm      

Stipe wants contact with ‘best friend’

(This is the first of a two-part series. See Thursday's paper for Part II)

Lawyers for former District 7 state Sen. Gene Stipe, of McAlester, say he should be allowed to continue to associate with Steve Covington — a man referred to as the convicted felon’s “best friend.”

They also want claims that Stipe violated his probation by associating with Covington tossed out of court.

Stipe’s attorneys filed papers with the requests at the Eastern District of Oklahoma U.S. Courthouse in Muskogee, where Stipe faces an Aug. 28 court date.

Covington not only worked as Stipe’s personal pilot for 20 years, but he also managed some of Stipe’s properties and served as a caregiver for Stipe and for Stipe’s first wife, Agnes, according to Stipe’s lawyers.

At issue during the Aug. 28 hearing is a move by Stipe’s probation officer and federal prosecutors to revoke Stipe’s probation.

Stipe, 80, could face a prison sentence of from four to 10 months if his probation is revoked. Prosecutors want to revoke it for two reasons.

One revolves around allegations that he and his estranged business partner, Steve Phipps, helped funnel illegal campaign contributions totaling around $34,600 into the 2004 Congressional campaign of District 2 U.S. Rep. Dan Boren, D-Muskogee. The other is that Stipe continued to associate with Covington after his probation officer ordered the two to disassociate on Oct. 11, 2005.

“There is no allegation that Gene Stipe and Mr. Covington have at any time been engaged in criminal conduct together, or that their offenses of conviction were in any way related,” Clark Brewster, one of Stipe’s attorneys, said in court documents.

He contends that the October 2005 order that Stipe stop associating with Covington “adversely modified” Stipe’s probation without allowing Stipe to have a hearing on the issue.

“Gene Stipe’s association with Steven Covington is simply in the interests of Sen. Stipe’s health and welfare.”

Covington was under supervised released at the time he and Stipe were ordered to disassociate. He had a previous conviction for mail fraud related to an odometer rollback scheme.

Stipe though, remained on five years probation for his federal felony convictions of conspiracy and perjury related to a Federal Election Commission investigation of a scheme to funnel illegal campaign contributions into Walt Robert’s’ failed 1998 congressional campaign.

Stipe’s lawyers want the court to dismiss the second part of a petition to revoke Stipe’s probation, for allegedly continuing to associate with Covington after his probation officer ordered him not to.

If the court won’t dismiss the complaint, the conditions of his probation should be modified so that he can “continue associating with Steve Covington,” Brewster said.

Beginning in September 2003, Stipe was hospitalized as a result of a staph infection, Stipe’s attorneys said. Covington stayed with Stipe many times over a six-month period , according to Stipe’s lawyers.

He later transported Stipe to rehab sessions.

“Even after that, Mr. Covington helped Sen. Stipe bathe, use the rest room, dress himself, administer medications and would sit with him for hours during the period of time the senator could not walk,” Brewster said in court documents.

For two years the U.S. probation office permitted Stipe to associate closely and develop strong personal and business ties with Covington, Brewster said.

When Stipe’s probation was transferred from the original sentencing court in Washington, D.C., to the Eastern District of Oklahoma U.S. Probation Office, Mike Hendley became Stipe’s probation officer. He also served as the probation officer for Covington and for Charlene Spears, who was convicted in connection with the 1998 FEC investigation, according to court documents.

Hendley conducted visits with Stipe, Spears and Covington at Stipe’s office in McAlester, according to Brewster. “He gave express permission for Sen. Stipe to continue with these associations,” Brewster said.

“Officer Hendley approved Steve Covington’s request to open some small finance companies and allowed Gene Stipe to provide financial assistance in these companies,” he said.

In addition, Covington managed four Microtel Inns for a corporation owned by Stipe, the Dollar General Corporation owned by Stipe, and an apartment complex in Pryor owned by Stipe, according to Stipe’s lawyer.

Covington also “assisted in managing over 5,000 properties” involving oil and gas acreages and participation in oil wells, Brewster said in court documents.

Brewster contends that Hendley once advised Covington to get a lawyer and seek early termination of Covington’s supervised release from federal prison, which would avert any objection to his association with Stipe.

The matter arose in September 2005, Brewster said.

“According to Officer Hendley, the motion would not be opposed by the United States Probation Office or the United States Attorney’s office and would permit him to continue his association with Sen. Stipe,” Brewster said.

After Covington got a lawyer, the government later did an “about face” and opposed the motion.

Hendley directed Stipe to cease further association with Covington, Brewster said in court documents.

From 1999 until 2002, Stipe’s relationship with Covington became even more close and personal, according to Brewster. At the time, Stipe was still a state senator and was out of town approximately five days a week.

“During the same period of time, Sen. Stipe’s wife, Agnes, was suffering from a severe illness and Steven Covington checked on her every evening to make sure she was stable,” Brewster said. Covington also took her to all her medical appointments, according to Brewster.

Who’s standing up for Stipe? See Thursday’s paper.