(The Center Square) - Oklahoma House Speaker Pro Tempore Terry O’Donnell and his wife are facing criminal charges after he allegedly sponsored a bill that allowed his wife to become a tag agent.
O’Donnell, R-Catoosa, and his wife, Teresa McAfee O'Donnell, were indicted by an Oklahoma County grand jury late Friday.
Terry O’Donnell is charged with five felonies and three misdemeanors that include obtaining a thing of value exceeding $15,000, using access to computers to violate Oklahoma statutes, perjury, conspiracy against the state and violation of a provision of law regulating official conduct, according to the indictment. Teresa O’Donnell is charged with three felonies and a misdemeanor.
The allegations stem from a bill sponsored by Terry O’Donnell and passed by the General Assembly in April 2019 that removes a rule prohibiting spouses from becoming tag agents. Teresa O’Donnell became the tag agent for Catoosa, Oklahoma, three months after Gov. Kevin Stitt signed the bill into law.
Teresa O’Donnell’s mother, Georgia McAfee, served as the tag agent before her death July 30, 2019. Teresa O'Donnell is accused of falsely claiming to have a management role in the office when she only worked part-time, according to the indictment.
The bill also raised fees for sending tags through the mail and notary services, which Terry O’Donnell “knew full well that he had a personal or private interest,” according to the indictment. Theresa O’Donnell also estimated the office revenues at $177,000 when in fiscal year 2018 the office collected $283,000. Terry O’Donnell knew “Mrs. O'Donnell would personally receive and enjoy the difference between the gross revenues of said Motor License Agency,” the indictment said.
The building that houses the tax agent’s office also is owned by McAfee Properties Inc., an Oklahoma corporation then owned by the Georgia E. McAfee Living Trust, in which "McAfee family members within the third degree of affinity to Representative O'Donnell had a beneficial interest," the indictment read.
Terry O’Donnell was elected to the House of Representatives in 2013, according to his House of Representatives page. He was named the speaker pro tem in November 2020. He serves as an ex-officio voting member on all committees, including state and federal redistricting.
via Oklahoma's Center Square News