Published: March 27, 2008 03:49 pm         

Sheriff indicted on fraud counts

WOODWARD, Okla. — A grand jury on Thursday indicted Woodward County Sheriff Les Morton on 20 counts of filing fraudulent travel claims and recommended the sheriff be removed from office.



Morton appeared in Woodward County District Court Thursday after the grand jury's sealed indictments were opened.



The charges address travel reimbursement claims Morton made over a 20-month period beginning September 2003.



The grand jury was impaneled on Jan. 23 and finished its investigations last week. The indictments, as well as the jury’s final report and a recommendation Morton be removed from office, were sealed until 11 a.m. Thursday.



District Judge Ray Dean Linder set bail at $5,000 on each of the 20 counts and recommended that Morton be immediately suspended from office.



Morton was booked into Woodward County Jail.



After an audit in 2005, Woodward County commissioners called on the sheriff to pay back nearly $17,000 in travel expenses. Morton repaid less than $7,000 in September of 2005 and in a letter to commissioners later that month Mack Martin, Morton’s attorney, said he considered the matter closed.



Rowynn Ricks writes for Woodward (Okla.) News.