Two of the three former Boynton town officials charged with felony crimes are familiar with state courts.
Willie Gary Hopkins, 63, was convicted in Texas of possession of marijuana after a previous felony conviction; the nature of the felony conviction and the dates of both convictions are not included in Oklahoma court records.
Hopkins also was convicted in Tulsa County of larceny of merchandise from a retailer and was incarcerated for eight months in 1990. He also was convicted in Muskogee County of possessing and concealing stolen property, and was imprisoned from September 1992 until July 1996, state Corrections Department records reflect.
In 2006 Hopkins pleaded guilty in Muskogee County District Court to a misdemeanor charge of domestic assault and battery, and received a suspended one-year county jail sentence.
Hopkins filed an application in Muskogee County for a protective order against Candace Lang on June 13, 2016, but dismissed it less than a month later. He was charged $186.66 in court costs.
Willie Hopkins and his then-wife, Jacqueline Vernice Moore, jointly filed for a protective order against Lang on Aug. 25, 2016. That PO was still in effect when another protective order against Candace Lang was issued in September 2016.
Candace Lang, 43, was charged in Muskogee County District Court in December 2016 with two misdemeanor offenses: violation of a protective order and malicious injury to property.
She was accused of going to the home in Taft of Willie and Jacqueline Hopkins in November 2016 in violation of the PO that was issued two months earlier, and breaking the front window of their house.
Lang pleaded guilty in August 2017 and received two suspended concurrent one-year county jail sentences, was assessed $1,000 in fines and $500 in court costs, was ordered to pay $600 in restitution and was instructed to “stay away from” the Hopkins home.
Willie Hopkins filed for a protective order in Muskogee County against his estranged wife, Jacqueline, on Nov. 25, 2020. Six days later he filed for divorce, and on Jan. 12, 2021, their marriage was dissolved on grounds of incompatibility.
Willie Gary Hopkins and Candace Renita Lang were married at a church in Muskogee on Oct. 4, 2021.
Court records reflect that Hopkins and Denise Cope were issued a marriage license in August 1978; Hopkins and Velenta Devon Reed were issued a marriage license in 1987; and Hopkins and Jacqueline Moore were issued a marriage license in McIntosh County in December 2006.
Boynton, Hopkins, Candace Lang sued for Town Hall attack
The Town of Boynton; Willie Gary Hopkins, Boynton’s former water system operator; and Candace Renita Lang, Boynton’s former town clerk, were sued in Muskogee County by Dennis Ray Allen, who alleged he was beaten in Boynton’s Town Hall.
Allen, 61, claimed that then-Mayor Clara Kay Lang, 72, called him on March 14, 2016, and “lured him to Town Hall” after regular business hours on the pretext of giving him public records he had requested. Clara Lang is married to Leonard Lang, Candace’s father, court records reflect.
In fact, Allen said he “suspected someone was embezzling Town assets” and he requested municipal records pursuant to the state’s Open Records Act “to expose” Candace Lang and Willie Hopkins’ “theft of Town funds.”
Testimony showed that when Allen entered Town Hall after 6 p.m. that evening, Clara Lang “tried to charge him an excessive amount for an envelope of papers which were not the records he wanted.” Allen described the papers the mayor gave him as “trash.”
Subsequently, Allen said, he was physically assaulted by Willie Hopkins and Candace Lang. Hopkins hit Allen in the face, knocking him unconscious, and he awoke on the floor. The punch injured one of his eye sockets and he temporarily lost vision in that eye, Allen said.
Evidence presented in court showed that Candace Lang and Willie Hopkins “were involved in a romantic relationship” at the time “which produced at least one child,” and subsequently they married, court documents relate. In addition, Willie Hopkins and Leonard Lang “had a 20-year business relationship,” court records show.
Allen claimed that Candace and Clara Lang and Hopkins “staged the attack to … intimidate Allen from seeking” the municipal records.
Allen filed his lawsuit on Aug. 30, 2018.
Associate District Judge Norman Thygesen ruled in January 2020 that Allen’s claims were “actionable” against the Town of Boynton for negligent hiring, negligent supervisions, negligent maintenance of premises, and violations of the Oklahoma Open Records Act. “Further still,” Allen’s claims were actionable against Lang and Hopkins for, “among other things, assault, battery, and civil conspiracy,” Thygesen wrote.
A trial was held later to determine the amount of damages for injuries Allen sustained; on Oct. 29, 2020, a Muskogee County jury awarded Allen $125,000 from the Town of Boynton and $250,000 from Candace Lang and Willie Hopkins.
The Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals affirmed the judgment on Nov. 14, 2022.