Reba McEntire asks judge to be lenient on childhood friend convicted of conspiracy
Reba McEntire (Associated Press photo)
Oklahoma country star Reba McEntire is asking a federal judge to show leniency toward a Kiowa businessman she grew up with in the southeast Oklahoma town.
Steve Phipps pleaded guilty in 2007 to a federal conspiracy charge and is scheduled to be sentenced Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Muskogee, according to the Associated Press.
Phipps admitted then he paid three legislators kickbacks in exchange for their efforts to steer state taxpayer money toward his companies.
According to the AP, McEntire is one of 46 people who have written a letter or affidavit to U.S. District Judge Ronald White on behalf of Phipps. She wrote that she and have Phipps have been friends since elementary school and that Phipps has helped with projects at Kiowa Public Schools. She also praised him as someone who has provided financial assistance and support to people in Kiowa who have faced hardships.
Phipps’ son is finishing an internship at McEntire’s Nashville, Tenn.-based company Starstruck, according to the AP.
Federal prosecutors also are asking White to show leniency on Phipps, crediting him with breaking the “code of silence” in a federal investigation into political corruption in southeast Oklahoma, the AP reported.
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-BAM
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