A multicounty grand jury indicted Wagoner County Sheriff Robert Steven Colbert and Deputy Jeffrey T. Gragg on felony charges Thursday. Attorney General Scott Pruitt announced the panel also asked for the “immediate suspension” of Colbert.
Members of the Fifteenth Multicounty Grand Jury allege Colbert and Gragg committed three felonies: conspiring to receive a bribe or extort by using threats, receiving a bribe or extortion using threats, and extortion induced by threats.
During a 2014 traffic stop, Gragg found $10,000 in a car Torell Wallace was driving. Both Wallace and a 17-year-old passenger were arrested for possession of drug proceeds and taken to the Wagoner County Jail.
Pruitt said in a press release that Gragg accepted a bribe in exchange for releasing and erasing records for Wallace and the passenger. The money was then placed in the sheriff’s drug forfeiture account.
Both Gragg and Colbert face up to 25 years in prison and a maximum of a $10,000 fine if convicted.
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