OKLAHOMA CITY – The son of the former sheriff of Cotton County received a 10-year prison term followed by at least two years of “community sentencing” in his latest district court appearance.
OKLAHOMA CITY – The son of the former sheriff of Cotton County received a 10-year prison term followed by at least two years of “community sentencing” in his latest district court appearance. Travis Wayne Simpson of Walters was sentenced Oct. 17 on guilty pleas to multiple felony and misdemeanor charges:
• two counts of endangering others while attempting to elude a police officer,
• three counts of driving while his operator’s license was suspended,
• two counts of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle,
• removing a proper, or affixing an improper, license plate on a motor vehicle,
• grand larceny,
• and second-degree burglary.
All of the charges were brought by the Walters Police Department and were filed on Sept. 10, 2018, and on Jan. 10, 11 and 14, 2019.
SIMPSON IS NO STRANGER TO PRISON
Simpson was given a 25-year prison sentence, with 10 to serve and 15 suspended, Associate District Judge Michael Flanagan said. Simpson, who was confined in the Comanche County Detention Center at Lawton on Oct. 23, now has eight felony convictions on his record, Flanagan related. Oklahoma Department of Corrections’ records show that Simpson was incarcerated in the state prison system at various times between October 2003 and December 2016, according to DOC Public Information Manager Matt Elliott. At one time or another Simpson has been confined at the Lexington Assessment and Reception Center, the State Reformatory at Granite, Jess Dunn Correctional Center at Taft, Northeast Oklahoma Correctional Center at Vinita, Union City Community Corrections Center, John Lilley Correctional Center at Boley, Lawton Community Corrections Center, Oklahoma City Community Corrections Center, and the Enid Community Corrections Center, DOC records show.
COMMUNITY SENTENCING TO FOLLOW FOR TWO YEARS
After serving his latest prison sentence, Simpson will be supervised in the Cotton County Community Sentencing Program for two years, and an option could allow the period to be extended for another year, as well. The state legislature passed the Oklahoma Community Sentencing Act 20 years ago to give judges an alternative sentencing option. The new law was intended to be an effective tool in preventing recidivism by giving offenders an opportunity to redirect their lives via treatment and programs. Punishment and treatment options are provided through a partnership between the public and private sectors, and among local and state agencies and governments.
Simpson, 41, signed a six-page document on Oct. 17 in which he pledged to abide by the “rules and conditions of supervision” under the community sentencing program. Among the terms: he must not violate any local, state or federal laws; cannot associate with jail inmates, convicted felons or parolees; cannot possess or consume prescription drugs or narcotic substances “other than those lawfully prescribed or dispensed ... by a physician”; cannot drink any alcoholic beverages nor work in a bar, tavern, or club; must submit to drug/alcohol testing “upon request and without notice”; cannot possess or carry a firearm; must work full-time; must enroll in and complete employment skills training “if directed to do so by my supervision officer”; and must pay all court-ordered restitution and all fines, fees and court costs assessed in his cases; etc. Furthermore, the court-mandated that Simpson must obtain a hair follicle test every 90 days for five years after completion of his community sentencing. Such tests are used to detect drug use.
SIMPSON NOW OWES $103K
Court documents indicate that in addition to Simpson’s latest prison sentence, he was assessed $16,178 in court costs, fees, and costs of his detention while in jail on the newest charges. Records filed with the Oklahoma State Courts Network contain a photocopy of Nov. 30, 2018, a letter from Court Clerk Burk to Simpson, notifying him that he was $87,053 “delinquent in your payments” on previous convictions “and did not appear” in court “to show why.” Those included guilty pleas to theft of anhydrous ammonia (for which the court assessed a $10,000 fine), manufacturing a controlled dangerous substance ($50,000 fine), and knowingly concealing a stolen motorcycle (for which Simpson was ordered to pay $2,618 restitution to Allstate Insurance Co., $3,800 to a Geronimo man plus $682 to a Burkburnett, Texas, woman). Collectively, then, it appears Simpson owes the courts at least $103,231. It’s doubtful that it ever will be paid because in many, if not all, of Simpson’s cases he filed a pauper’s affidavit declaring that he was broke and needed a public defender to represent him in court.
TRAVIS SIMPSON IS SON OF EX-COUNTY SHERIFF
Travis Wayne Simpson is the son of former Cotton County Sheriff Kent Simpson. Facing an ouster proceeding, Kent Simpson resigned as Cotton County Sheriff last month, but he still must stand trial next year on a criminal charge arising from an indictment issued by a multicounty grand jury. Simpson, 59, an ordained minister, was suspended from office June 10 on a petition/ application from the Cotton County Board of Commissioners, who alleged the sheriff “willfully and habitually, with bad or evil purposes, neglected the duties of his office...” Under state law, Simpson was entitled to a jury trial on the ouster petition, and initially, his case was set for the Cotton County District Court jury docket that started on Oct. 1. Instead, in a letter dated Sept. 11 and addressed to the county commissioners, Kent Simpson tendered his resignation as sheriff, citing residual effects from injuries sustained in a car wreck Dec. 24, 2018. The Cotton County Commissioners appointed former Deputy Sheriff Tim King to fill the post of sheriff and complete the 15 months that remained on Simpson’s unexpired term.