Thanks to a tip via The Ogle Mole Network we’ve learned that Brittane Grant – a Democratic candidate for House District 99 who’s facing incumbent Ajay Pittman in the upcoming primary – once pled guilty to felony charges related to food stamp and welfare fraud.
The guilty plea was filed in 2016, and she received a six-year deferred sentence.
We know this because an Ogle Mole sent us this screenshot from the Oklahoma Department of Corrections website.
I verified its authenticity earlier today.
I don’t know the circumstances regarding Brittane’s case – like what her life situation was at the time or what led her to commit the crime – but even if life isn’t going so great, defrauding the government to get help or assistance is tacky, illegal, and something from your past that voters in District 99 should know about, especially if you somehow get caught!
That being said, I guess we should give Brittane props for being a go-getter and committing these crimes before she ran for public office. As we know, most Oklahoma lawmakers wait until after they’re elected to commit crimes, frauds and other transgressions.
For example, Grant’s opponent in the upcoming Democratic primary – State Rep. Ajay Pittman – waited until after she was securely in office to use her campaign donations to pay for $18,000 in personal expenses.
As a result of that blatant violation of Oklahoma ethics laws, she recently agreed to pay a $35,000 settlement penalty.
Yep, it looks like Democrats in HD 99 are going to have a tough decision to make in a couple of weeks.
Do they want to vote for the lady who committed welfare and food stamp fraud, or the one who tried to steal from her campaign donors?
If Ajay Pittman gets her way, voters won’t have to make that decision.
Earlier this week, Pittman hired attorney Jason Reese – the Hot Wife Chloe Needs to Be Punished guy – to file a court petition to boot Brittane from the ballot.
They’re basically arguing the Oklahoma constitution prohibits anyone who has been “adjudged guilty of a felony” to be eligible for election to the legislature. They also claim that anyone who pled guilty to a felony has to wait until 15 years after their sentence to run for office.
Check this out:
I couldn’t locate the details of Grant’s arrest on OSCN, which makes me think her felony cases related to welfare and food stamp fraud may have been expunged.
UPDATE: We were able to obtain these documents from a Mole that came via OSBI:
If that’s so – AOL keyword: IF – it’s very similar in scope and style to a story we broke and covered back in 2021 when we learned former Norman City Councilman Kelly Lynn once pled guilty to felony drug charges, but failed to disclose them when he ran for public office because it dropped off his record.
His excuse was that even though he pled guilty to a felony, that felony no longer counted.
Our hard-hitting legal analysis, however, was that the expungement didn’t matter. Oklahoma law seems clear and simple – if you’ve been found guilty or pled guilty to a felony, you have to disclose it – and probably aren’t eligible for office.
If that’s the case, Brittane Grant probably can’t be elected to the legislature, or for that matter, Kelly Lynn either!
If it’s not the case, and felony convictions that have been expunged or dismissed from your record no longer count as felony convictions, well, a whole lot more people in our state are eligible to serve in the legislature.
Anyway, I guess it will be interesting to see what the courts decide. We’ll continue to monitor this case and provide updates.
Stay with The Lost Ogle. We’ll keep you advised.
