Oilton mayor arrested on embezzlement complaint

Today, an agent with the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation and a Creek County District Attorney’s investigator served an arrest warrant for Oilton Mayor Patrick Kennedy at his Oilton home.

The OSBI began investigating allegations of Oilton’s mayor improperly embezzling money last summer.

During the investigation, OSBI learned Kennedy, the town’s mayor and supervisor over the Oilton Public Works Authority (OPWA), needed to spend $8,000 left of a loan from the Oklahoma Water Resources Board or lose that money. Kennedy met with two public works employees and proposed he would approve them to receive contractor payments in exchange for splitting the payments with him.

One of the workers was assigned to inspect repairs to a sewer line, while the other would install an air conditioner in the city sewer plant. When the work was completed in October 2016, the two men prepared invoices for the work – work performed while being paid by OPWA for regular jobs.

Both men received payments from the public works authority for that extra work.

After they were paid, Kennedy met with the two men at the authority’s office. There, the workers split the cash with Kennedy in exchange for his approving them to do the work and approval of the invoices the men submitted.

Kennedy received more than $5,000 in cash.

The OSBI agent investigating prepared a comprehensive written report for the Creek County District Attorney.

On Friday, the agent and a District Attorney investigator served an arrest warrant for Kennedy at his Oilton home. Kennedy’s bond was set at $30,000.

The two workers involved are witnesses in this case. They will not be charged since Kennedy coerced them to participate based on his control over their jobs.