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Grand Jury Moves To Indict Oklahoma Regional University System Regent For Embezzlement

Terry Matlock

Oklahoma’s multicounty grand jury has indicted a regent for the Regional University System of Oklahoma who’s also a former state lawmaker and rural electric cooperative CEO.

Terry Matlock faces 11 counts of embezzlement and one count of engaging in a pattern of criminal offenses. He’s accused of using Choctaw Electric Cooperative employees for work on his property, and using company funds for agriculture equipment, The Oklahoman’s Kyle Schwab reports:

The offenses allegedly occurred in Choctaw and McCurtain counties from 2008 through 2014. On Nov. 10, 2008, Matlock allegedly issued a $67,444 check from the co-op's general fund account for the purchase of two John Deere tractors and attachment equipment for his personal use. On multiple occasions in 2008 and 2009, Matlock allegedly instructed a co-op employee to refurbish his 1980 Ford Bronco. Matlock is accused of authorizing $5,702 in co-op funds toward payments for parts and repairs for the vehicle, according to the indictment. In 2014, Matlock instructed a co-op employee to transport a John Deere bulldozer to his property for the purpose of moving logs and brush, according to the indictment. He also is accused of using co-op funds to pay co-op employees and other individuals to perform manual labor jobs on his personal property.

Matlock was fired from the co-op in 2014 as an investigation into the missing funds got under way. He faces a maximum sentence of 51 years in prison and $77,000 in fines. The Democrat from Garvin served in the Oklahoma House from 1990 to 2002, eventually rising to the leadership position of Speaker Pro Tempore. He left in 2002 to begin working with the Choctaw Electric Cooperative.

The grand jury also wrapped up an investigation into contributions to Tulsa County Sheriff Vic Regalado’s campaign in Tulsa County. They found no wrongdoing. Regalado was elected to a full term last month after winning a special election in April to replace Stanley Glanz, who stepped down after a grand jury investigation into the TCSO after the April 2015 shooting death of an unarmed suspect by a reserve deputy.

Read the final Multicounty Grand Jury report

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Brian Hardzinski is from Flower Mound, Texas and a graduate of the University of Oklahoma. He began his career at KGOU as a student intern, joining KGOU full time in 2009 as Operations and Public Service Announcement Director. He began regularly hosting Morning Edition in 2014, and became the station's first Digital News Editor in 2015-16. Brian’s work at KGOU has been honored by Public Radio News Directors Incorporated (PRNDI), the Oklahoma Association of Broadcasters, the Oklahoma Associated Press Broadcasters, and local and regional chapters of the Society of Professional Journalists. Brian enjoys competing in triathlons, distance running, playing tennis, and entertaining his rambunctious Boston Terrier, Bucky.
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