The Oklahoma Supreme Court has upheld a district judge's ruling that ex-Sen. Gene Stipe is entitled to monthly state retirement payments of $7,042.
The board of the Oklahoma Public Employees Retirement System had appealed an Oklahoma County judge's decision reinstating Stipe's full benefits. The pension panel had reduced Stipe's pension to about $1,600 a month after he pleaded guilty to illegally funneling money into a 1998 congressional campaign.
Stipe argued his pension should not have been cut because his plea did not relate to his duties as a legislator.
Stipe resigned from the Senate in 2003. He now is facing several felony counts linked to the use of taxpayer funds for private business ventures in southeast Oklahoma.
He is currently in a federal prison hospital in Missouri for a mental evaluation. A judge has declared him incompetent to stand trial on the federal charges.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
