Sen. Kyle Loveless resigns amid criminal investigation
Facing new accusations that he embezzled his own campaign funds, state Sen. Kyle Loveless resigned Thursday and admitted he made mistakes.
The conservative Oklahoma City Republican stepped down two days after his defense attorney, Mack Martin, met with Oklahoma County District Attorney David Prater about the accusations.
He became the third Oklahoma senator in the last two years to resign in disgrace after coming under criminal investigation. His resignation is effective immediately and is irrevocable.
A criminal investigation into his campaign finances has been underway since February.
The investigation by the DA’s office at first focused on whether Loveless committed perjury when he failed to report all of his PAC donations on his campaign reports.
That investigation has expanded, Prater confirmed Thursday. It now also involves whether Loveless embezzled campaign donations.
Legislators are allowed to use donations both to finance their campaigns and for “officeholder expenses” after being elected. They are not allowed to use campaign funds to cover personal expenses such as purchases at the mall.
“I tender this resignation with much regret. Mistakes I have made are the responsibility of no one other than myself,” Loveless wrote in resignation letters delivered Thursday morning to the governor, lieutenant governor and Senate president pro tem.
Loveless, 43, became one of the more visible legislators at the Capitol after taking office in 2012, primarily because he was outspoken in his criticism of current civil forfeiture laws.
He represented Senate District 45, which stretches from Mustang into far south Oklahoma City eastward toward Valley Brook. He first ran for that Senate district
seat in 2008 but lost in a runoff election. He ran unopposed in 2012 — a rarity in Oklahoma politics. He won re-election in 2016 in the primary election.
His defense attorney declined to comment Thursday. Loveless did not respond to a message left on his cellphone.
Loveless also has been under investigation by the Oklahoma Ethics Commission because of discrepancies over his PAC donations. That investigation began in November.
The discrepancies can be seen by comparing campaign reports filed by Loveless with reports filed by political action committees.
Those records show Loveless did not report thousands of dollars in PAC donations given to his 2012 and 2016 campaigns.
Loveless has acknowledged in the past he’s had personal shortcomings but was restored by God.
“I’ve been broken myself,” he said in a 2013 church speech. “The only things that got me through it was my family and my relationship with Jesus . ... Officials are human, too, but we still have to govern. We still have to do things.”
In August 2015, Rick Brinkley, R-Owasso, resigned from the Senate and pleaded guilty to a federal fraud charge. He is now in federal prison for stealing more than $1.8 million from the Better Business Bureau of Tulsa while an official there.
In March, Ralph Shortey, R-Oklahoma City, resigned from the Senate after he was accused in a child prostitution case of offering to pay a 17-year-old boy for sexual “stuff.” Moore police officers found Shortey and the teenager in a room at the Super 8 in Moore early March 9.
The felony case against Shortey is pending in Cleveland County District Court.