OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) A former state legislator who was accused of breaking a federal law on the use of pre-recorded telephone messages receives a 45-hundred dollar fine today. Tim Pope, who now heads the Oklahoma Republican Assembly, could've been fined as much as ten (m) million dollars if U-S District Judge Robin Cauthron had determined Pope was responsible for the 20-thousand illegal calls the state Attorney General's office said were made. According to court papers, about half the calls with a message attacking Oklahoma County Commissioner Jim Roth were answered, so state prosecutors sought a fine of 100 dollars per call. Pope and his attorney, Stephen Jones, countered, and the judge agreed that a smaller fine of 500 dollars per call was appropriate since only nine people complained to the attorney general's office about the January 2006 calls. Cauthron ruled in January that Pope violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, which requires all pre-recorded telephone calls to include a name and call-back number for the person responsible for them. Jones says an appeal is planned.

Labels: Tim Pope

Posted at 3/16/2007 08:00:00 AM