Ex-Oklahoma state senator due in court for fraud sentencing

TULSA, Okla. (AP) – A former Oklahoma state senator who admitted stealing $1.8 million from the nonprofit agency where he worked is due in court for sentencing.

Rick Brinkley resigned last year after prosecutors investigated his work at the Better Business Bureau. He subsequently pleaded guilty to five counts of wire fraud and one count of subscribing to a false tax return and his lawyer said the ex-senator completed two months’ of inpatient treatment for a gambling addiction.

Brinkley’s federal court sentencing was set for Friday. He faces up to 20 years on each fraud count and three years on the tax charge.

The former Republican state senator from Owasso was president and CEO of the Better Business Bureau in Tulsa from 1999 to 2011, then its chief operating officer until last year.