According to prosecutors, Krafton accepted deposits for roof repair and replacement on behalf of Oklahoma Roofing and Flooring, Oklahoma Construction Plus, and Liberty Roofing.  However, he is accused of collecting the deposits but never completing any work.  As a result of four incidents in Edmond, Moore, and Oklahoma City, Krafton has been charged with four counts of embezzlement and one count of engaging in a pattern of criminal behavior.

Krafton is accused of accepting deposits totalling $11,997.75 from four customers, but never beginning the work.  In some cases, the customers say that supplies were dropped off, but no work was ever begun.  In one case, the home of a customer paying a deposit of $2,600 was damaged by heavy rain a week after the repairs were to have begun.

Two customers filed suit against Krafton and were awarded a civil judgment, but have yet to receive the award.

The latest Oklahoma embezzlement charges seem to be the continuation of a pattern of fraudulent activity by the roofing contractor.  At the time of his most recent charges, Krafton was serving a total of twenty years in suspended sentences for embezzlement cases in May and June of 2011.

On May 5, 2011, Krafton pleaded guilty in two separate cases to embezzlement and embezzlement by contractor in Cleveland County District Court.  He received a five year suspended sentence for each.  On June 29, 2011, he pleaded guilty in Oklahoma County District Court to obtaining property by trick of deception.  He received a ten year suspended sentence in that case.

A suspended sentence is one in which the sentence is deferred until the completion of a term of probation.  If the defendant successfully complies with the terms of the suspended sentence, the conviction may be thrown out.  However, if the defendant breaks the law during this time, the suspended sentence is revoked, and the defendant must serve the rest of the sentence behind bars.

Facing multiple felony charges for white collar crimes is a serious undertaking.  If you or someone you love has been charged with embezzlement, fraud, or other white collar crime, call the Oklahoma white collar crimes lawyers with Phillips & Bailey in Oklahoma City.

Thunder public address announcer James Allan Miller, 41, a Harrah High School teacher and tennis coach, was arrested last week on complaints of lewd or indecent acts with a minor in Oklahoma County.  He was released on $30,000 bail the next day.  According to Harrah police spokesman Phil Stewart, the Oklahoma Department of Human Services referred the case to Harrah police approximately three weeks ago.  A probable cause affidavit filed in Oklahoma County District Court says that Miller is accused of watching pornography and performing lewd acts in the presence of a boy under the age of 16.  Allegedly, two females came forward and accused Miller of watching pornography in their presence and eventually committing sexual abuse against them.  Harrah police state that Miller is also under investigation in Potontoc County.

Miller is suspended from his duties with the Oklahoma City Thunder.  The organization said, "Due to the   allegations and criminal case against him and until further notice, Mr. Miller has been removed from his duties as Thunder PA announcer."  Harrah Public Schools has placed Miller on administrative leave pending the investigations, but asserts that the investigation  does not indicate the involvement of any students.

In a signed affidavit, an interviewer of Mr. Miller says that the incidents were accidental, stating that he had a "problem with internet pornography," and that the minors had occasionally walked in on him while he was watching porn and masturbating.

Being accused of a sex crime in Oklahoma can result in the loss of your job and the destruction of your family.  If you or a loved one has been accused of a sex offense, it is important to seek legal representation as soon as possible.  Call the experienced Oklahoma City sex crime defense attorneys with Phillips & Bailey when you need help.

Court records show that Hughes admitted to an investigator with the Oklahoma Office of Juvenile Affairs that she deposited four restitution money orders in the amount of $1,000 each into her personal bank account.  She allegedly told the investigator that she had been having financial difficulty and needed the money to help support her own children.

Patricia Hughes was employed as a juvenile justice specialist with the Frederick agency of the Office of Juvenile Affairs from 2005 until 2011, when she left the agency as part of a voluntary buyout.

Though embezzlement, or misappropriation of funds with which one is entrusted or to which one has access, is sometimes committed out of greed, it is often an action taken by people who find themselves in a desperate financial situation and are looking for a way out.  In Ms. Hughes' case, she claimed to be having financial difficulty and struggling to support her children.  In other cases, overwhelming debt, fear of foreclosure, divorce, or addiction may create financial burdens that leave otherwise law abiding citizens scrambling for a solution.  Though these situations do not justify theft, many people use embezzlement to quickly solve a stressful financial problem.  Often, perpetrators of embezzlement have every intention of paying back the funds they appropriated to their own use; unfortunately for them, they are often caught before they are able to do so.

If you have been accused of embezzlement or fraud, or if you suspect that you are being investigated for potential involvement in an embezzlement scheme, it is important to consult an experienced Oklahoma white collar crime lawyer as quickly as possible.  Whether you have, in fact, embezzled money, or whether you were acting under a supervisor's orders and were unaware that the activity was illegal, a skilled attorney can closely evaluate your case to determine the optimal defense strategy.  By taking a proactive approach, you may be able to mitigate some of the penalties associated with an embezzlement conviction; if you are innocent of the charges, an embezzlement lawyer in Oklahoma can aggressively pursue a dismissal of the charges or an acquittal at trial.

Early this week, a former teacher in Clayton, Oklahoma, surrendered to authorities after she was accused of having a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old student.  Rhonda Ford, 29, resigned her position as English teacher at Clayton High School in Pushmataha County after rumors began circulating that she and a student were sexually involved.  In March, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigations (OSBI) began investigating the claims, and Ford resigned the following week.

According to police, the alleged victim told authorities that he began a sexual relationship with the teacher shortly after Valentine's Day, and that the two had sex on at least ten occasions in February and March.  To confirm his allegations, he told police he could identify a tattoo that Ford has below the panty line.

A warrant was issued for Ford's arrest last week.  She surrendered on Sunday to face criminal charges including one count of lewd or indecent acts with a minor under 16, four counts of second degree rape, four counts of sodomy, and three counts of providing alcohol to minors.  Three students told police that Ford had asked them to help her move and, as payment, she provided them with beer and liquor.

Ford was employed by Clayton Public Schools for less than one year.  She began working for Clayton High School in August 2011 and resigned prior to April 1, 2012.

Before teaching in Clayton, Ford was employed as an English teacher at Cleveland High School for one semester--from August 2009 to January 2010.  Though confidentiality law prevents Cleveland Public Schools from releasing details of Ford's resignation, Cleveland High School principal Alan Baker is listed on an affidavit as a witness for the prosecution.

Because the age of consent in Oklahoma is 16, and Ford's alleged victim is 15, she would have been facing prosecution even if she were not a teacher.  However, because she was a teacher, she was legally precluded from having sex with any student in the district in which she worked, even if that student had reached or passed the age of legal consent.

Any teacher who has sex with a student not only risks his or her career, but also faces criminal prosecution and mandatory registration as an Oklahoma Sex Offender.  If you or a loved one has been accused of lewd acts with a minor or statutory rape, contact a skilled, experienced Oklahoma sex crime defense lawyer as quickly as possible.

Yesterday, and Oklahoma City woman was charged with two counts of embezzlement after she was accused of directly stealing the deposits of an Edmond convenience store.  Christina M. DeWitt, 38, was charged with embezzlement in Oklahoma County District Court for allegedly twice failing to deposit the receipts of the Circle K convenience store located at 1308 North Bryant Avenue in Edmond.

Store video allegedly shows DeWitt leaving the store with a deposit of $4,255 on March 29, and a deposit of $10,316.89 on March 30.  According to DeWitt's employer, the store manager was supposed to make the deposits and then return to the store to train another employee.  However, the employer says, the deposits were not made, and DeWitt never returned to work.

Under Oklahoma embezzlement law, the penalties for embezzlement vary according to the value of the property or stolen funds.  For example, embezzlement of less than $500 is a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail and a fine of up to $1,000.  However, the greater the value of the embezzled property, the greater the severity of the crime.  In this case, the suspect is accused of stealing more than $14,000.  Under Oklahoma law, theft or embezzlement of property valued between $1,000 and $25,000 is punishable by restitution, a fine of up to $5,000, and a prison sentence of up to five years in a state penitentiary.

What is embezzlement?  What actions constitute embezzlement and contribute to criminal charges?

Embezzlement is defined as "the fraudulent appropriation of funds or property entrusted to one's care but actually owned by someone else."  In other words, if someone is entrusted with the money or property of an individual, business, or organization, and that person takes the money or property for his or her own personal use, then he or she has committed embezzlement.

Examples of embezzlement include:

• An employee of a business, organization, or institution who pockets all or part of the deposits
• A guardian or an executor of a will or estate who has legal access to the funds of another person, living or dead, and misappropriates those funds for personal use or funnels the money into personal accounts
• An employee takes cash from the register or fails to ring up items, pocketing the customer's payment
• An employee adds fictitious names or names of relatives to the company payroll to collect multiple paychecks for phony employees
• A bookkeeper falsifies payments and accounts
• Check kiting
• Falsifying timesheets
• and more.

If you have been charged with embezzlement, are being investigated for embezzlement, or if you suspect that you may be involved in illegal activity, it is important that you cease the questionable action and contact an experienced Oklahoma white collar crime lawyer who can help you determine the best course of action to protect against criminal charges.

In separate incidents recently, both a cat and an infant tested positive for meth near Tulsa.  The cat was found at a Catoosa home that was raided in a drug bust on April 15.  The raid revealed multiple one-pot meth labs (a common method for manufacturing meth in Oklahoma).  Though several cats were in the home, the one in the worst condition was taken from the home to be treated at a local veterinarian's office.  The cat, who was extremely malnourished and neglected, tested positive for meth.  The veterinarian said that although it did not appear that the cat had ingested the drug, the chemicals were found in its blood stream from living in the environment containing at least thirty one-pot meth labs.

On April 24, police arrested a Skiatook woman  after her 8-month-old daughter tested positive for meth at St. Francis Hospital in Tulsa.  According to police, Amy Lynn Daugherty, 25, sought the advice of a family friend with medical training when she found her infant daughter limp and unresponsive.  Emergency personnel transported the infant and her mother to the Tulsa hospital, where the baby tested positive for high levels of meth.  Daugherty told police that a few days before, she and her daughter  had been present in a home where meth and marijuana were being used.  She reportedly told authorities that her daughter had never been out of her supervision and that she did not know how it was possible that the baby had ingested methamphetamine.  Daugherty was arrested on a complaint of child neglect, with bail set at $25,000.  The injured infant, her twin sister, and a 5-year-old brother were taken in to protective custody by DHS.

The manufacture of methamphetamine is relatively cheap and easy; however, meth labs are fraught with inherent dangers from burns, explosions, and accidental ingestion.  Because of the dangers of meth and the high cost of addiction, meth manufacturing, distribution, and possession are prosecuted vigorously.  If you or someone you love has been accused of a meth offense, contact an experienced Oklahoma drug defense attorney today.

According to local media reports, the traffic enforcement night is being planned and implemented by the Oklahoma County Sheriff's Department, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, and other law enforcement officers.  While the agencies have not identified the specific location of any checkpoint or checkpoints, they say that in addition to any DUI roadblocks, there will also be increased patrols searching for traffic violations.

While sobriety checkpoints often result in a handful of Oklahoma City DUI arrests, more frequently, these traffic checkpoints yield warnings and citations for violations such as expired tags, lack of insurance, and minor infractions.  Usually, there are also arrests of individuals with outstanding warrants.

Any Oklahoma DUI lawyer can advise you that the only way to avoid being arrested for driving under the influence is to avoid drinking before driving.  If you choose to drink and drive, you risk arrest and conviction of DUI charges.  Conviction may lead to jail or prison, significant fines, loss of driver's license, installation of Ignition Interlock at driver's expense, alcohol treatment and monitoring, and community service.  Losing your license impacts your ability to attend work, school, church, and even run simple errands without relying on others for help.

While Oklahoma DUI is generally defined as driving with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.08 or above, there are certain conditions--such as underage drinking and driving--that can lead to a DUI or alcohol-related driving offense with a BAC much lower than 0.08.  You can  be arrested for DWI (driving while impaired) with a BAC between 0.05 and 0.08, and you can be arrested for APC (actual physical control) even if you are not driving.

If you are arrested for DUI or any other serious traffic offense, it is important to contact a qualified attorney as soon as possible.  An experienced Oklahoma DUI attorney can help you understand the specific charge you face and the penalties that may be associated with conviction.  Through careful analysis of the specific details of your case, your attorney can craft a strong defense that may be able to help you avoid jail.  Dismissal of the charge following an illegal traffic stop, reduction of the charges, and deferred sentencing may all be options that help you quickly get back on track following a DUI arrest in Oklahoma.

In an unusual case out of Tulsa, Oklahoma, last week, a 19-year-old Vici man was accused of the rape of two men in separate incidents on consecutive days.  Allegedly, Brandon Brady raped each of two men with whom he was sharing a room at the Doubletree Hotel in downtown Tulsa.  Police say the men were staying at the hotel for an event, and the facility's website shows the only scheduled convention to be a meeting for CareerTech students and faculty.

According to police, Brady is accused of raping one man while the alleged victim was attempting to shower at approximately 7:00 p.m. last Sunday.  He is then accused of raping the second man at approximately 7:30 p.m. the following evening as the alleged victim attempted to use the bathroom.

Brady was arrested at approximately 3:15 a.m. on Tuesday morning and taken to the Tulsa County jail on two complaints of first degree rape.  His bail was set at $100,00o.

Oklahoma rape attorneys represent defendants accused of rape and other sex crimes.  These defendants are frequently men, but women are often accused as well, particularly in cases of rape of minors.  It is unusual, though not impossible, for a woman to be accused of raping a grown man.  Sometimes this occurs when the victim is legally unable to consent to sex, as in the case of female correctional officers having sex with inmates.  In a recent unusual case, an Australian woman was accused of rape after allegedly breaking into her male victim's home and forcible performing oral sex on him.  Rebecca Elder, 39, was charged with aggravated serious criminal trespass and rape.

Regardless of the gender of the defendant or alleged victim, rape charges may be filed against anyone accused of having sex with someone who did not consent or was legally unable to consent due to age, mental incapacity, or custody or supervision.  If you or someone you love has been accused of rape, call an experienced rape defense lawyer in Oklahoma as soon as possible.

Blose is accused of having a sexual relationship with the teen, who was a friend of her daughter.  She faces up to life in prison for fifteen counts of first-degree rape, five counts of lewd acts with a minor, three counts of forcible oral sodomy, and one count of lewd or indecent proposals to a minor.  Though her no contest plea places her at the mercy of the court, she will be required to register as an Oklahoma sex offender for life even if she does not receive a life sentence to prison.

Her no contest plea was likely advised by her Oklahoma sex crimes defense lawyer.  Most people do not understand the difference between a guilty plea and a plea of no contest, and a skillful attorney will closely advise his or her clients on which plea is likely to provide the best outcome.

An Oklahoma City criminal defense attorney can explain the possible plea options and the advantages and disadvantages to each.  Essentially, a defendant has three plea options:  not guilty, guilty, or nolo contendere (no contest).

In a not guilty plea, the defendant maintains his or her own innocence.  By pleading not guilty, the defendant chooses to have his or her case go to trial to be decided by a judge or jury.

In a guilty plea, the defendant admits to the crime or crimes of which he or she is accused.  By pleading not guilty, the defendant avoids the time and expense of a jury trial and accepts the conviction and sentencing of the judge.

A plea of no contest has a similar outcome to a guilty plea:  there is no trial, the defendant is convicted of a crime, and the judge issues any sentence.  In a no contest plea, the defendant admits no guilt; rather, the defendant chooses not to fight the charges at trial.  A nolo contendere plea may offer some relief from civil litigation related to the criminal charge.

Another possible plea option in Oklahoma is the "Alford plea."  An Alford plea is similar to a no contest plea.  However, whereas a plea of no contest neither accepts nor denies guilt, in an Alford plea, the defendant proclaims his or her innocence.  By making an Alford plea, the defendant says that, although he or she is innocent of the charges, the prosecution's evidence would likely result in conviction.  The defendant chooses the court's judgment over a jury trial.

If you have been charged with a criminal offense, your Oklahoma defense lawyer should carefully explain your options for pleading and should make sure you understand the advantages, disadvantages, and likelihood of success for each plea.  Before making a plea, be certain your attorney has fully explained the options available to you and how each is likely to impact your case.

On Friday, 17-year-old Kody Matthew Koonce of Choctaw and 17-year-old Cody Gene McGee  of Jones were charged with first degree rape and forcible oral sodomy in Oklahoma County District Court.  The boys are alleged to have raped a 17-year-old girl with Down Syndrome on February 12 of this year.  Two younger boys, at least one of whom was only 14 at the time, are also accused of participating in the sexual assault against the girl, who is said to have the mental capacity of a 5 or 6 year old.

Allegedly, Koonce, McGee, and a third boy raped the girl at a Choctaw residence.  The three teens and a fourth boy allegedly also performed oral sex on the girl.  A 19-year-old man who was allegedly present at the time of the assault has been charged with abuse or neglect of a child.  The man, Rusty Begay, is also charged with forcible oral sodomy for allegedly performing oral sex on one  of the boys involved, who was 14 at the time.

Though the alleged victim was 17 at the time of the incident, and above the legal age of consent, her mental capacity as a result of Down Syndrome makes her unable to legally consent.  According to Oklahoma rape laws, it is considered rape in the first degree if the rape is "committed upon a person incapable through mental illness or any unsoundness of mind of giving legal consent regardless of the age of the person committing the crime."

If your child has been accused of a sex offense, it is important to find an Oklahoma sex crimes lawyer who is experienced at handling juvenile cases.  An Oklahoma juvenile sex crime lawyer will represent your child for the best possible outcome, working carefully to avoid having your child, as a criminal defendant, become a victim of inflated charges and overzealous prosecution.