Two Lawmen Face Criminal Charges In Grady County

Rusty Surette, News 9

CHICKASHA, Oklahoma -- The Grady County District Attorney has filed charges against two Oklahoma lawmen in separate cases.

Jason Paul Miller, a detention officer at the Grady County Jail, surrendered to authorities this week after he was charged with one count of smuggling contraband into the jail and one count of an officer receiving bribes. Both charges are felonies.

According to investigators, Miller received money over the summer from an inmate's girlfriend in exchange for cigarettes, naked pictures and a cell phone to be smuggled to the inmate.

According to court documents, Miller confessed to investigators about the alleged scheme. Sources say he is no longer an employee at the jail. If convicted on the charges, the 25-year-old could spend up to 10 years in prison.

In another case, Oklahoma Highway Patrol Trooper Stanford Emil McConnell is charged with concealing stolen property. The charge is a felony.

According to investigators, McConnell acted with two other people to conceal nine electric transformers, electric wire and electric insulators that had been stolen from Public Service Company of Oklahoma, Caddo Electric Cooperative and Rural Electric Cooperative Company.

According to court documents, Sarah Marie McConell and Timothy John Sales had stolen the items after the January 2010 ice storm and concealed them in a barn owned by Stanford McConnell. Investigators say McConnell, who patrols the State Capitol in Oklahoma City, continued to conceal the stolen items on his Chickasha property even after learning the items were obtained illegally.

OHP Spokesman Capt. Chris West said Trooper McConell is on administrative leave. He faces up to five years in prison.