FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE FRIDAY, MARCH 21, 2003 WWW.USDOJ.GOV CRM (202) 514-2008 TDD (202) 514-1888 WASHINGTON, D.C. Assistant Attorney General Michael Chertoff of the Criminal Division announced today that Charlene Spears, 62, a secretary at the Stipe Law Firm in McAlester, Okla., and the personal assistant to former Oklahoma State Senator Gene Stipe, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to obstruct a Federal Election Commission (FEC) investigation, a felony violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371, and conspiracy to violate the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA), a misdemeanor violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371.
The plea occurred this morning before the Honorable James Robertson of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.
The charges against Spears stem from her role in Walter L. Roberts's 1998 campaign for the U.S. House of Representatives to represent Oklahoma's Third District. In her plea today, Spears admitted distributing over $40,000 to 20 individuals who, at her direction, then contributed that money to the Roberts campaign, thereby causing the Roberts campaign to file numerous FEC reports misidentifying the true source of the funds. Spears also admitted to helping disguise a large contribution to the Roberts campaign through a falsely reported cattle purchase, and to lying in oral and written statements to the FEC during the agency's investigation of the 1998 campaign.
Spears is the second person to enter a guilty plea to charges arising from Roberts's 1998 congressional campaign. On March 5, 2003, Roberts, pursuant to a plea agreement, pleaded guilty to a two-count information which charged felony conspiracy to obstruct an FEC investigation and a misdemeanor conspiracy to violate FECA. Roberts admitted acting with others to surreptitiously and illegally transfer over $150,000 in funds to his campaign and to obstruct the FEC's investigation into those payments. As part of their plea agreements, Spears and Roberts have agreed to cooperate with the Justice Department's ongoing investigation of this matter.
The maximum penalty for conspiracy to obstruct an FEC investigation is five years of imprisonment and a fine of $250,000. Applying the law in effect at the time Spears committed her offense, the maximum penalty for conspiracy to violate the FECA is one year of imprisonment and a fine of $100,000 or 300 percent of the value of the illegal contributions. The defendant's sentencing is set for July 15, 2003, at 10 a.m., before Judge Robertson.
The case is being prosecuted by trial attorneys Howard Sklamberg and Matthew Solomon of the Public Integrity Section of the Criminal Division, U.S. Department of Justice, and investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Oklahoma City Division, after a criminal referral by the FEC. 03-173
Source: US Department of Justice
