Mike Morgan

Mike Morgan (born January 26, 1955) is an American politician from the U.S. state of Oklahoma. A Democrat, Morgan served as the President pro tempore of the Oklahoma Senate during the 51st Oklahoma Legislature.

Early life and education Morgan was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma on January 26, 1955. He graduated from Oklahoma State University in 1976 with a bachelor's degree. He then attended the University of Tulsa and earned a Juris Doctor in 1979.

Legal and political career Morgan practiced law in Stillwater, Oklahoma, and was also an adjunct professor of business law at Oklahoma State University. From 1984 to 1996, he was a municipal judge for the City of Stillwater. He could not run for re-election in 2008 due to term limits.

Morgan received the Bill Lowry Library Champion Award from the Oklahoma Library Association in 2007.

Bribery conviction In 2011, Morgan was indicted on 63 federal charges, alongside a lobbyist and an attorney from Oklahoma City. He was accused of taking over $400,000 in bribes. The conviction was in connection with Morgan's acceptance of $12,000 from an operator of assisted-living centers at a time when Morgan wrote legislation of assisted-living centers that was enacted into law. The charges against Morgan's co-defendants were either dropped or resulted in an acquittal.

The judge in the case, Robin Cauthron, was critical of the strength of the prosecution's case, saying at the sentencing hearing in 2013 that Morgan's conviction "was based on some very suspect evidence, based on the testimony of a convicted felon, resulting in a bill that no one has ever complained about." He spent 13 months in Forrest City and 2 months in an Oklahoma City halfway house.