They are charged in relation to gathering signatures for a taxpayer bill of rights initiative petition.

OKLAHOMA CITY -- A multicounty grand jury indictment unsealed Tuesday in Oklahoma County District Court names three key figures in the failed effort to put a taxpayer bill of rights on state ballots last year.

Tulsan Rick Carpenter, president of Oklahomans in Action, faces one count of conspiracy to defraud the state and one count of filing a false, fraudulent, felonious and fictitious initiative petition.

Oklahomans in Action circulated the initiative petition.

Susan Johnson of Michigan, president of National Voter Outreach, and Paul Jacob of Virginia, of Citizens in Charge, were charged with conspiracy to defraud the state.

Jacob is a leader of the term-limits movement.

National Voter Outreach, a Nevada corporation, was responsible for the circulation and signature collection process, according to the indictment. The group was paid by Carpenter and Jacob for signatures gathered in support of the TABOR petition, according to the indictment.

Johnson said she is "absolutely innocent."

"This is ridiculous," she said.

District Judge Bryan Dixon entered pleas of not guilty for Jacob and Carpenter.

The Oklahoma Supreme Court tossed out the petition last year, saying it had too few legal signatures and that "the evidence supports substantial illegal participation of out-of-state circulators."

Carpenter, Johnson and Jacob were handcuffed together and taken out of the courtroom Tuesday.

They are accused of knowingly and illegally hiring and using out-of-state residents to gather signatures in support of a constitutional amendment that would have set limits on the growth of state spending and required any surplus funds to be placed in a constitutional emergency fund.

"Oklahoma law requires anyone who circulates a petition be a qualified elector; that means a U.S. citizen over the age of 18 and a resident of Oklahoma," said Attorney General Drew Edmondson, whose office oversees the multicounty grand jury. "The grand jury alleges Carpenter, Jacob and Johnson knew they were violating Oklahoma statute and engaged in a conspiracy to illegally gather signatures."

Jacob said the charges are an attack on a person's right to petition the government.

"It will not stand," he said.

Edmondson called the right to petition the government "the very life-blood of the democratic process."

"The voices of those Oklahomans who chose to support this petition were silenced because of this alleged conspiracy," he said. "We cannot tolerate schemes designed to manipulate our state's election laws."

Michael Trevino, an Oklahoma City lawyer representing Carpenter, had no comment.

Conspiracy against the state is punishable by as much as 10 years in prison and a $25,000 fine. Filing a false, fraudulent, felonious and fictitious initiative petition is punishable by as much as two years in prison and a $500 fine. Both are felonies, said Charlie Price, a spokesman for Edmondson.

Oklahoma's residency requirement has been challenged in federal court by Yes on Term Limits, a group that seeks to limit the terms of statewide elected officials.

A federal judge upheld the residency law regarding initiative petitions, but the case has been appealed.

Barbara Hoberock (405) 528-2465
barbara.hoberock@tulsaworld.com