The Oklahoma portion of former Garfield County District Judge Brian Lovell’s legal troubles was settled Sept. 12 when he pleaded guilty to one count of “using a vehicle to facilitate the discharge of a firearm” and received a 20-year suspended sentence. Lovell, 60, was accused of committing a drive-by shooting of his brother-in-law’s home in Bison in 2023. He faced removal from office for an alleged affair with a bailiff, and he ultimately resigned from the bench, citing a frontotemporal dementia diagnosis.
Separately, a pretrial hearing on a different criminal case for discharging a firearm during a road rage incident in Austin, Texas, is set for Oct. 7, although his defense attorney indicated in court filings they expect to receive a probationary sentence south of the Red River.
Lovell’s Garfield County case drew unusual filings in the lead up to his plea. His attorney, Stephen Jones, accused Attorney General Gentner Drummond of politicizing the prosecution in an Aug. 1 filing, which included a purported transcript of a July 2 phone call between Jones and Drummond where the state’s top prosecutor indicated he would like to offer a plea deal, but was worried about public perception.
“So, I go back to my team, and they’re like, ‘Gentner, he — the judge, he shoots in Austin, he shoots the gun in Oklahoma, you know, you cannot possibly let him walk,'” Jones’ filing claimed Drummond said. “So that’s where my office is, is like how can we possibly do this to him. It looks as though you’re simply doing Stephen a favor because he’s a donor. That’s the words from my staff to me, and the narrative that the media is waiting to see play out. So I’m in an awk — a very awkward position, and I don’t have a solution.”
Jones alleged that he and Drummond spoke several times about the best way to settle the case with Drummond’s gubernatorial campaign in mind.
“The third telephone call, again initiated by the attorney general, on July 2 was a conversation between two experienced political activists, one the elected attorney general and candidate for governor, and the other Brian Lovell’s attorney, who had been the Republican nominee for attorney general in 1974, the United States Senate in 1990, and briefly Republican State Chairman in 1981, a member of the Republican State Finance Committee for a number of years, and in 2006, the largest donor to Republican candidates as documented by the Tulsa World,” Jones wrote. “This conversation was about providing political cover for an agreement already reached but which someone in the attorney general’s organization, perhaps the attorney general himself, was concerned about the political impact of a deferred prosecution agreement. The agreement had already been made. What the attorney general was addressing was the political cosmetic effect of the agreement with, in his words, an ‘ally, supporter and donor.'”
As the case approached trial, Jones filed motions to require the enforcement of an alleged deferred prosecution agreement reached between the parties. Drummond’s office argued the calls were merely “a discussion regarding a possible resolution of the case, not an enforceable contract.” The arguments were similar to ones raised by former death row inmate Richard Glossip’s defense attorneys in his criminal case.
Jones’ motion to enforce the alleged agreement in Lovell’s case was denied Aug. 26. Filings between Aug. 25 and Sept. 12 did not indicate any agreement for a suspended sentence was being discussed, instead focusing on whether Lovell’s defense team could reference a person named “Bruce Lee” as an alternative suspect for the Bison shooting at trial.
The suspended sentence bans Lovell from owning firearms, ammunition, alcohol and illegal drugs. He also is barred from reapplying for his law license or driving during his probation, as well as from being within a mile of his brother-in-law’s residence. He also agreed to two years of Oklahoma Department of Corrections supervision, to continue to attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and to receive psychiatric care.
Asked about Lovell’s case and Jones’ comments at a recent District Attorneys Council meeting, Drummond said the parties reached an appropriate agreement.
“He pled guilty to the charges — 20 years suspended,” Drummond said. “It’s the right thing, it’s the right conclusion.”
Drummond explained that he believed the Attorney General’s Office needed to be willing to take the lead on cases around Oklahoma involving public officials, something prior attorneys general had not routinely done.
“I am a different attorney general,” Drummond said. “We make decisions. We do the hard stuff. I’ve got the right team and the right people.”
Since taking office, Drummond has assumed control over the criminal cases filed against Lovell, former Rep. Terry O’Donnell, former Rep. Ty Burns, and Kay County Commissioner Shane Jones. He dismissed the case against O’Donnell, despite calling him “guilty.” Both Burns and Lovell pleaded guilty in their cases, while Jones’ case is ongoing.
