Gene Stipe

Multimedia

Archived Audio Interviews

Rita Benson, an accountant and alleged straw donor, interviewed by Oklahoman reporter Nolan Clay

Clip 1: Karla Hall, a banker and alleged straw donor, interviewed by Oklahoman reporter Nolan Clay

Clip 2: Karla Hall, a banker and alleged straw donor, interviewed by Oklahoman reporter Nolan Clay.

Gene Stipe Timeline

1926 -- Born Oct. 21, 1926, in the Pittsburg County community of Blanco, to miner and farm worker Jacob Irvin Stipe and Eva Lou Stipe.

1940s -- Commissioned a Navy ensign in Jackson, Miss.

1948 -- Elected at age 21 to state House of Representatives.

1949 -- Earned law degree from the University of Oklahoma.

1949 -- Married Agnes L. Minton on Feb. 3.

1949-54 --Member of Oklahoma House of Representatives.

1949-53 -- House assistant floor leader.

1954 -- Loses bid for state Senate seat.

1956 -- Elected to Senate in special election.

1957 -- Takes office, remaining in post until Tuesday.

1968 -- Indicted by a federal grand jury in Muskogee, accused of evading taxes on $110,000 income in 1961-62, later acquitted.

1975 -- Hired by William Con Sutherland for $100,000 retainer and $100-per-hour fee during the bankruptcy collapse of Sutherland s vending machine empire. Bankruptcy trustees claimed his retainer was taken from illegally diverted assets. Stipe settled out of court, repaying $60,000.

1978 -- Fails in short-lived campaign for U.S. Senate seat.

1979 -- Indicted for a second time after an FBI probe into his role in the 1974 financial collapse of McAlester Frozen Foods, a food- processing company. The U.S. Small Business Administration loaned the money to McAlester Frozen Foods, unaware that the food-processing equipment was already mortgaged with another bank loan.

1980 -- Indicted on conspiracy, fraud and extortion charges after being accused of participating in a plan to use his influence with the governor s office regarding a case against a Colorado man facing extradition.

1981 -- Acquitted of charges in the Small Business Administration loan case.

May 1983 -- Neonatal beds at Children s Memorial Hospital in Oklahoma City remain open after Stipe brings scheduled closure issue to the forefront.

Nov. 20, 1992 -- Admitted as patient to the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota.

July 26, 2000 -- Donates $1 million to help put a dome on the state Capitol.

February 2000 -- Showing support for labor, Stipe tells Oklahomans who supported right to work they should move to Arkansas.

2003 -- Involved in another FBI probe, this time in connection with illegal campaign contributions for Walt Robert s failed 1998 campaign in the 3rd Congressional District.

March 11 -- Resigns from state Senate after a half-century legislative career.