Gene Stipe

Eugene Edward "Gene" Stipe (October 21, 1926 – July 21, 2012) was an American politician from Oklahoma who holds the record as the longest serving member of the Oklahoma Senate. His influence in the state senate earned him the nickname "the Prince of Darkness," and he had a reputation for filibustering. He was a member of the Democratic Party.

Early life and career Gene Stipe was born in Blanco, Oklahoma, the son of Jacob Irvin Stipe, a farmer and coal miner, and Eva Lou Stipe. He served in the United States Navy in the mid-1940s and became an ensign. In July 1946, he was an apprentice seaman aboard the destroyer USS Blue (DD-744) on a post World War II deployment.

Oklahoma House of Representatives In 1948, Stipe was elected to the Oklahoma House of Representatives at the age of 21, Stipe married Agnes L. Minter in 1949 and they had one daughter. They were married until her death in 2002.

Oklahoma Senate Stipe did not seek re-election in 1954, but was an unsuccessful candidate for a Oklahoma Senate seat against Kirksey M. Nix. However, two years later Nix was elected to the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals and Stipe was elected to the state senate in a special election, serving from 1957 until his resignation in 2003, becoming the longest-serving member of that body. Around the 1970s, Stipe earned the nickname "the Prince of Darkness" for his influence in the state senate and his propensity to filibuster.

Earlier legal problems In 1968, Stipe was indicted on charges of federal income tax evasion for allegedly failing to pay taxes on $110,000 in income, but was later acquitted of the charges.

In 1975, he was paid $100,000 plus expenses to assist William Con Sutherland in a bankruptcy case involving Sutherland's vending machine empire. Stipe was accused by bankruptcy trustees of taking his retainer fee from illegally diverted funds. In an out-of-court settlement, Stipe repaid $60,000 in order to resolve the dispute.

In 1979, Stipe was indicted by a federal grand jury for his role in securing a fraudulent Small Business Administration loan for McAlester Frozen Foods, a food processing company based in Stipe's district. He was acquitted on those charges in 1981. While awaiting trial in the SBA loan case, he was indicted by another federal grand jury on charges of fraud, extortion, and conspiracy relating to his intervention in an extradition case involving a Colorado man. A month later, he pleaded guilty to federal charges of perjury, conspiracy to obstruct a Federal Election Commission investigation, and conspiracy to violate the Federal Election Campaign Act, relating to his alleged role in funneling illegal contributions to the failed 1998 congressional campaign of Walt Roberts in Oklahoma's 3rd congressional district. He married Mary Bea Thetford in December 2003.

Possible probation revocation and 2007 indictment In September 2007, federal authorities filed a petition seeking to have Stipe's probation revoked as a result of his alleged ongoing relationship with his former business partner Steve Covington due to the latter's status as a convicted felon. On September 28, a federal judge ordered Stipe, who had hydrocephalus, diabetes and prostate cancer, to undergo a mental competency evaluation at the United States Medical Center for Federal Prisoners in Springfield, Missouri, following a parole revocation hearing in which Stipe required prompting from his attorneys to answer questions, and according to the judge, appeared to be drugged or hypnotized. The request was subsequently denied in November, 2008, following the court's decision that Stipe was incompetent to face a probation revocation hearing and had effectively served the prison sentence he would have been given during his court-ordered mental competency evaluation.

While awaiting a determination on his competency to face probation revocation, Stipe and his brother, Francis, were indicted by a federal grand jury in another case on charges of mail fraud, witness tampering, money laundering and conspiracy, relating to their alleged role in a real estate deal involving a pet food company owned by another one of Gene Stipe's former business partners, Steve Phipps. The witness tampering charge stemmed from allegations that the Stipe brothers engaged in a conspiracy to influence the testimony of former Oklahoma State Representative Mike Mass by buying the mortgage on a home owned by Mass. The indictment against Stipe was put on hold due to mental competency issues raised during a probation revocation hearing relating to a previous case against him, and Francis Stipe subsequently died following his guilty plea in the indictment.

Stipe died on July 21, 2012 and was buried at Memory Gardens, McAlester, Oklahoma.