Jury Trial Scheduled for Small Town Oklahoma Mayor
The current mayor of Newkirk, Oklahoma, a small town located near the Kansas-Oklahoma border, is scheduled for a jury trial on March 26 after pleading not guilty to a felony charge of obtaining a controlled substance by concealment of material fact.
Frankie Gene Arnold, 52, appeared in Kay County District Court on Jan. 23 with his attorney Ken Holmes and entered the plea.
Arnold, who is also an instructor at Cowley County College in Arkansas City, Kan. was charged in February of 2011 after an investigation by the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics.
OBN agent Robert Lewis reports in the affidavit that a citizen told agents that Arnold was having packages sent from Direct Pharmacy Service Inc. to Newkirk City Hall.
The agent reports that he looked at the Prescription Monitoring Program and found that Arnold had gone to two different doctors receiving the same medication from both.
Arnold reportedly sought medication from Dr. Phillip J. Knight and Dr. Robert Morgan and that neither doctor knew he was obtaining medication from the other.
The OBN agent submitted evidence to the district attorney's office that suggested three felonies were committed. However, only one charge was filed.
The affidavit suggests that on March 8, 2010, Arnold picked up a prescription for Hydrocodone 325/10mg No. 100 from a pharmacy in Ponca City and that on March 29 and on April 7, Arnold picked up prescriptions for Hydrocodone 500/7.5mg No. 100 from Rhoads Brothers Pharmacy in Newkirk.
The agent reports that Arnold later admitted that he obtained a prescription from Rhoads Brothers Pharmacy in Newkirk by deceit by not advising the prescribing physician that he was seeing other physicians and obtaining multuple other controlled dangerous substances.
Pre-trial motions in the case are scheduled for March 16.
Earlier this month, Arnold did not file to retain the office of mayor.
A mayoral election is scheduled for March 6.
Published by Marie Lowe
I have a degree in journalism and work for a daily newspaper. In 2005 I was honored as the Oklahoma Farm Bureau Journalist of the Year. Have just entered the fourth year of my mother's battle with ovarian... View profile
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8 Comments
Post a CommentObviously I don't condone what he did, and he has to be punished; but still, it is sad. Prescription drug addiction is a heart breaking problem.
Wow...this one hits close to home Marie since I live just North of the KS/OK border, north of Wellington. We're really neighbors. I hope justice is served. Wonder if they'll have to move the trial since smaller towns are were everyone knows everyone. I live in Belle Plaine...which is a very, very small town.
Maybe the mayor is in a lot of pain, hence, the double Rx for hydrocodone. But maybe he needs it when the going gets tough in city hall. Either way, things aren't looking good for the mayor.
excellent work
Somebody doesn't want him in office. While what he did was wrong, it looks as though his opposition found out and jumped on the chance to discredit him. I doubt any law enforcement officer would be that interested in him otherwise. LOL, I just had a dentist try to prescribe Vicodin for me and I refused it in favor of a non-narcotic pain medication--because Vicodin made me sick the one time I took it. I never needed to have the prescription filled but wished I'd gotten the Vicodin after someone told me the street value!!!!
good update
Great reporting. Thanks
Interesting! Great job!