Tate authors still wait for ex-publishers to go to trial
A preliminary hearing set this week on various criminal charges faced by the former owners of a now-defunct vanity publishing house in Mustang won’t be happening.
Instead, a preliminary hearing conference — an event where prosecutors and defense attorneys update the judge who will preside over the case — is now scheduled Wednesday in Canadian County District Court in El Reno, officials have said.
Richard Tate, the founder of Mustang-based Tate Publishing & Enterprises, and Ryan Tate, the firm’s CEO and Richard Tate’s son, face numerous criminal charges that could send them to prison for up to 35 years.
Each man faces four felony embezzlement charges, a misdemeanor embezzlement charge, and three felony attempted extortion by threat charges. Each also faces a felony racketeering charge.
The only courtroom activity the case has generated so far, beyond arraignment, are preliminary hearing conferences.
Author T.W. Whistler III, who wrote a Tate-published book of poetry titled “It’s a Thought,” said he’s not happy about how long it is taking to conduct a trial.
Whistler said Tate clients are still coming forward to accuse the former publisher of defrauding them, and worried
that might be slowing the process down.
On Monday, a spokeswoman for the attorney general said 2,127 former Tate Publishing & Enterprises customers have filed complaints with the agency’s consumer protection unit.
“We all got ripped off,” Whistler said. “I don’t know how much more they could learn.”
Whistler also wondered whether a slow trial might be connected to any kind of attempt to give firms that had business arrangements with the Tates a priority over authors who had filed complaints.
Both Lightning Source and Xerox, which had provided the publisher printing and distribution services, each have won lawsuits seeking a total of nearly $4 million against Tate Publishing, but have not collected any of those dollars.
“If they are following the money trail, I might be more understanding, but I don’t think it has to take this long,” Whistler said. “We need some resolution.”
Whistler, however, isn’t dwelling on the past, noting he is working on two additional books. He isn’t the only former Tate-published author engaged in that task.
Author Heather Nelson said she recently resurrected a book that she had been working with the Tates to get published that is about infertility, miscarriage, pregnancy loss and how that can impact faith and family relationships.
Nelson essentially rewrote it, giving it a new title, “Hail Mary for Peanut,” and a new Library of Congress listing and copyright.
She said the book, published in July, has done well and that she just recently published yet another book, “Just Stop — 10 Things Everyone Should Stop Saying,” about relationships that she also believes will do very well.
Nelson said she understands why it is taking so long to bring the case to trial, given the sheer volume of complaints filed against the Tates and the amount of discovery involved.
“It gave me a wonderful opportunity to learn a lot about the back side of publishing,” she said. “I am not holding my breath for anything. I am just moving on.”
Other developments
Auctions conducted on four of five properties the Tates had been buying from BancFirst Corp. netted the bank about $742,000, court filings show.
The properties had been cross-collateralized by various loans the Tates had entered into with BancFirst that totaled $683,319.15. After the Tates defaulted on the loans, the bank successfully secured foreclosures on the properties.
Besides retiring the notes and accrued interest, the total proceeds of $750,000 from the auction were used to pay court and sheriff’s costs and costs of the sales. An attorney who represented the bank in the action said a surplus of about $10,000 remains with the court, and could be used to compensate other creditors.
As for the criminal trial, the charges the Tates face are based on investigations the Oklahoma Attorney General’s consumer protection unit launched on behalf of consumers who have filed complaints against the men and their company.
The consumers complain they hadn’t received the services they had paid for as part of their agreements with Tate Publishing & Enterprises.
The attorney general filed charges involving eight of those consumers when the Tates announced a plan to restart their business more than a year ago, after closing the operation months earlier.
The attorney general’s spokeswoman said agency attorneys couldn’t comment about the trial’s pace, given it involves ongoing litigation.