Ex-Okla. Appeals Judge Disbarred for False Expense Reports
A former judge on Oklahoma’s top court for criminal appeals has been disbarred for submitting false expense reports to cover the costs of visiting his jailed son and purchases made by the woman who gave birth to the boy.
Steve Lile resigned from the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals in 2005. He apologized for his conduct at a disciplinary hearing last year, the Oklahoman reports. “I was plain stupid,” he said. “I wasn’t thinking straight.”
The Oklahoma Supreme Court noted in a Sept. 16 opinion that Lile voluntarily repaid the expense account claims but said the seriousness of his misconduct required disbarment, the Associated Press reports. Besides filing false expense reports he also improperly interceded on behalf of the woman, Dawn Lukasic, the court said.
Lile’s troubles began when he experienced marital problems and renewed his relationship with Lukasic, who told him they had a child he never knew about. Lile subsequently hired Lukasic and contacted the district attorney when she was arrested after methamphetamine was discovered in her car during a traffic stop.
Lile traveled at taxpayer expense on almost a weekly basis to visit his jailed son over a four-month period, the supreme court said. He also hired Lukasic, put her in charge of an office remodeling, and submitted expense claims to cover some purchases she had made that were unrelated to the remodeling.
Lukasic was charged in three drug cases and eventually went to prison. Lile married her upon her release, the Oklahoman story says.
