Jason Clarke
CHICKASHA — The courtroom circus is over for one of the defendants in the Elks Lodge gambling case, after pleading guilty to a felony charge.
Former Chickasha Lt. Jerry Don Tyler, who has appeared this week in district court along side Sheriff Kieran McMullen, former Chickasha Sgt. Helen McMullen, and Deputy Robert Cacy, pled guilty Friday afternoon to the felony charge of peace officer engaged in illegal gambling.
Tyler also pled guilty to the misdemeanor charge of willful neglect of duty.
“Jerry Tyler is not a bad guy. He was a police officer who made some mistakes,” District Attorney Bret Burns said. “He pled guilty to the Felony crime of being a police officer engaging in illegal gambling and to the Misdemeanor crime of neglecting his duty of office. He has accepted responsibility, had some consequences and can now go on with the rest of his life.”
The former Chickasha officer pled guilty directly after the lunch break in front of Special District Judge Ken Harris.
That morning, the prosecution had elicited testimony from co-defendant and fellow former Chickasha Officer Greg Parks.
Parks had testified that he had seen Tyler both playing the machines at the lodge and receiving payouts for his winnings.
In his plea, Tyler admits to illegal gambling at the lodge. He also testified that the defendant Helen McMullen had asked him to retrieve a copy of a phone call made to dispatch concerning Officer Greg Parks allegedly driving intoxicated away from the lodge.
Tyler stated he held onto the tape for a week before Helen McMullen came to retrieve it.
When asked if he knew the tape was to be used in proceedings at the Elks Lodge to suspend a member, Tyler stated he did not. He said he knew that Helen McMullen was going to have her husband, a Trustee at the Elks Lodge, review the tape, but he did not know any other plans.
“With his guilty plea, he cannot be a police officer anymore,” Burns said. “I respect someone who can step up to the plate and accept responsibility for what they have done wrong.”
Tyler received a one-year deferred sentence for the felony charge and a one-year suspended sentence on the misdemeanor charge.
The nature of the charges also require Tyler to give up his CLEET certification, preventing him from being a peace officer.
