The Paper

Aug
17

2020

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022
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 Muskogee Phoenix

2 Thursday, September 10, 2020

AROUND OKLAHOMA
Sep
10
Trial set for battle over
funds from charter school
the-court brief that state
auditors should have ac-
cess to those records.
L
2020

Page
OKLAHOMA CITY — A
judge has set a trial date
for a legal battle involv-
ing Oklahoma’s attempt
Joe Exotic formally requests
pardon, maintains innocence
fi
to review financial OKLAHOMA CITY — A
A002 records from a private former Oklahoma zoo-
Clip company that manages keeper sentenced to 22
resized
58% a public charter school. years in prison for his O
District Judge Natalie role in a murder-for- —
Mai set the trial date for hire plot and violating su
Dec. 16, The Oklahoman federal wildlife laws has an
reported Wednesday. formally requested a iti
State Auditor and pardon. th
Inspector Cindy Byrd Attorneys for Joseph ru
said Epic Youth Services, Maldonado-Passage, ca
which manages Epic also known as “Joe Exot- pr
Charter Schools, has ic,” filed his application da
refused to provide her Tuesday with the U.S. A
office with records of Department of Justice. In ar
Epic’s Learning Fund— a it, attorneys for Maldo- an
bank account that pays nado-Passage, 57, say he tes
$1,000 per student for maintains his innocence tec
extracurricular activities, and that he was “rail- sa
technology costs and roaded and betrayed” by pr
supplemental curricula. others. Le
Byrd has tried obtain- “Joseph is scheduled as
ing those document as to be released from (Bu- 5,0
part of an audit of the reau of Prisons) custody T
school and company at in 2037; however, with sit
the request of Gov. Kev- his comprised health, he ers
in Stitt. But Epic Youth will likely die in prison,” les
maintains that the re- attorneys wrote in the A
cords are private. 257-page application. pa
State investigators al- “He humbly requests a th
leged Epic used the fund pardon to correct the lev
to embezzle taxpayer injustices he has expe- res
funds. Epic has denied rienced and to have the ho
any wrongdoing. opportunity to return cil
Attorneys represent- to providing meaning-
ing Epic Youth said ful contributions to his
those funds are no lon- community.”
ger public once they’re The application also
paid to a private compa- includes several charac-
ny, and they shouldn’t ter affidavits, letters of
be submitted for the support and various trial
audit. documents. A spokes-
The Oklahoma State- woman for the Depart-
wide Virtual Charter ment of Justice said it
School Board, which would be premature to
oversees the Epic One- comment on the appli-
on-One virtual school, cation.
argued in a friend-of- — Wire reports

Property of OPS News Tracker and members of the Oklahoma Press Association.
 Stillwater NewsPress

Stillwater News Pre

AROUND
OKLAHOMA F
Trial set for battle By
over funds from ahu
Oklahoma charter
school St
wi
OKLAHOMA CITY
in
– A judge has set a
Sep trial date for a legal
battle involving Okla-
m

10 homa’s attempt to re-

view financial records
from a private com-
pany that manages a
public charter school.
P
2020 District Judge Na-
talie Mai set the trial
Co
date for Dec. 16, The th
Oklahoman reported
Wednesday. Ta
Page State Auditor and
Inspector Cindy Byrd
m
Sc
A002 said Epic Youth Ser-
vices, which manages
pr
wh
Epic Charter Schools, pu
has refused to provide ar
Clip her office with re- de
resized cords of Epic’s Learn-
ing Fund – a bank
go
ga
25% account that pays
$1,000 per student for Gr
extracurricular activ- ab
ities, technology costs an
and supplemental cur-
ricula. ev
Byrd has tried
obtaining those doc-
ument as part of an
audit of the school
and company at the
request of Gov. Kevin
S
Stitt. But Epic Youth
maintains that the re- Co
cords are private.
State investigators
alleged Epic used the Co
fund to embezzle tax- we
payer funds. Epic has wh
denied any wrongdo- th
ing. fir
– AP al
we
wh
Sen. David awarded tre
wa
Oklahoma Medal of M
Freedom –
wh
OKLAHOMA CITY yo
– Senate Majority th
Leader Kim David is ho
the latest Oklahoman ha
to receive the Oklaho- co
ma National Guard’s
highest civilian honor – na
The Oklahoma Medal se
of Freedom. David, the m
wife and mother of cur- co
rent and former guard wi
members, was honored Th
for her work in the ar
Senate over the past wh
decade on behalf of the ho
Oklahoma National
Guard and its mem-
bers. Previous recipi-
ents of the prestigious
award include former
governors George
B
Nigh, Frank Keating Co
and Brad Henry.
“I am grateful and H
humbled to receive the Br
Oklahoma Medal of wa
Freedom. Through the wo
service of my husband, ga
son and daughter, I ed
know full well the sac- ge
rifices and risks faced wh
by our guard members, ca
and how they selflessly flo
give their all for their It
communities, this state co
and our great nation,” Co
said David, R-Porter. ru
“It is an honor and a an
privilege to be able to co
work on their behalf in wa
the Oklahoma Senate.” fo
The supporting cita- an
tion for David’s award an
points to her legislative tr
efforts in the mental it
health and quality of ni
life arenas which have pe
provided Oklahoma re
Guard members ad- in
ditional resources to kn
address their unique Iw
needs. David worked m
hand in hand with or
Joint Force Headquar- ad
ters Military Personnel
Branch (J1) to craft wh
and introduce Senate th
Bill 690, also known Br
as the Guard Advoca- to
cy Program. The bill, pr
which was signed into gr
law in 2017, was de- de
signed to facilitate and m
increase access to com- m
munity resources that lik
improve health, social se
support, and produc- pe
tivity, preventing nega- an
tive lifestyles and crisis th
issues from developing
into behavioral health to
emergencies. m
– Oklahoma State of
Senate ac
lon

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