MARIETTA – Seven felony counts accuse former Love County Treasurer Lorry Hull of embezzlement, apparently to finance a gambling habit.
Hull, 45, of Ardmore, was indicted by the 20th Multicounty Grand Jury on complaints of stealing $21,499.13 of “public money” over a one-month period (July 9 – Aug. 11) in 2020.
The charges filed Friday in Love County District Court allege she “willfully, unlawfully, and feloniously convert[ed] public property to her own use...”
Hull is accused of cashing and pocketing a $5,489.67 treasurer’s check issued on Aug. 11, 2020, for “the alleged release of protest taxes;” a $960 check from the Housing Authority of the Chickasaw Nation for a payment in lieu of taxes; and depository vouchers of $1,488.47, $957.85, $1,063.83, $9,473.05 and $2,066.26.
Conviction provides for a maximum 10year prison sentence on each count.
Hull was not confined in the Love County Jail when contacted Friday night by Southwest Ledger.
The misappropriations were discovered during an investigative audit of the Love County Treasurer’s Office that was performed by the staff of State Auditor and Inspector Cindy Byrd, who submitted her report on Oct. 16, 2023.
Love County Treasurer deputies attempted to assist the State Auditor’s staff “but were unable to log into the online banking due to Hull” having changed the password, Byrd wrote.
Hull was the Love County Treasurer for seven years, 2013-2020.
A “potential misappropriation of funds” in the treasurer’s office was noted by an unidentified county employee in August 2020, and their concern was “communicated to the Board of County Commissioners,” who in turn requested a forensic audit of “the accounts of former Love County Treasurer Lorry Hull.”
A state multicounty grand jury indicted Hull in September 2020, charging her with two counts of embezzlement by county treasurer.
In that case she was accused of twice converting to her own use public money controlled by her in her capacity as the Love County Treasurer. She embezzled $15,049 received in cash in July 2020 and $5,489 received in cash in August 2020, according to that indictment.
One month later, on Oct. 20, 2020, then-Attorney General Mike Hunter dismissed the indictment against Hull and asked the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation to “further investigate any and all allegations of Embezzlement of a County Treasurer by Lorry Hull…” The Oklahoma Tax Commission filed a tax warrant against Hull for failure to pay income taxes in 2018 and 2019. A garnishment affidavit in the Love County court file shows that on Nov. 6, 2023, Hull owed the OTC $15,507 for unpaid taxes, interest, penalties, collection fees, court costs and other fees.
Five weeks later theTax Commission withdrew and suspended the garnishment proceeding. No explanation was provided in the court record.