Former Oklahoma Commissioner Sentenced After ‘No Contest’ Plea

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February 12, 2009 Thursday 02:41 PM EST

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Former Oklahoma Commissioner Sentenced After 'No Contest' Plea

Sean P Carr

OKLAHOMA CITY

Ex-Oklahoma Insurance Commissioner Carroll Fisher will serve a six-month sentence after pre-empting a bribery trial by entering a plea of no contest.

By appearing before Oklahoma County District Judge Kenneth Watson, Fisher skipped the need for a trial, which had been scheduled for Feb. 23. In doing so, he received a sentence from the judge, rather than the jury he would have been subject to if convicted, said Charlie Price, spokesman for Attorney General W.A. Drew Edmondson.

"He walked in and threw himself at the mercy of the court. This was not a negotiated settlement," Price said.

Fisher was charged with receiving approximately $70,000 in gifts and money from a Texas businessman, his family and others in exchange for inappropriate treatment. The businessman was not indicted.

The state had asked for a sentence of seven years. Instead, Fisher will serve six months at the Riverside Intermediate Sanction Facility, a private facility in Tulsa. He will be eligible for a work release program and will spend an additional four and a half years on probation. He must also pay a $5,000 fine to the state victims compensation fund, perform 150 hours of community service and pay approximately $30 per day for his incarceration, Price said.

The disposition of this case ends all criminal matters between Fisher and state authorities, Price said.

Fisher's attorneys did not immediately return messages seeking comment.

The former regulator previously served 14 months of a three-year term for perjury and embezzlement connected to $1,000 of unreported campaign contributions he deposited into his personal bank account. Fisher and his administrative assistant, Opal Ellis, were indicted in 2004 by a grand jury on felony charges that include embezzlement of more than $40,000 in connection with the Insurance Department's Continuing Education Fund, and other charges involving Fisher's nonprofit charitable organization, which he allegedly created to buy shoes for poor children.

A Democrat, Fisher was elected in 1998 and re-elected in 2002. He resigned in September 2004 ahead of a Senate impeachment trial.

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(By Sean P. Carr, senior associate editor, BestWeek: [email protected])

February 13, 2009