Norman council member Austin Ball agrees to plea deal on embezzlement charges

Ward 1 Councilmember Austin Ball has changed his plea from not guilty to no contest, agreeing to a plea deal on charges of embezzlement and making false statements in his campaign expenditure reports. 

Ball will serve a two-year deferred sentence. If Ball successfully completes the conditions of the deferred sentence, charges will be dismissed. 

According to court documents, conditions include a $50 payment Victim Compensation Assessment fee and a substance abuse evaluation within 30 days. Following the substance abuse evaluation Ball must adhere to the evaluators recommendations.

In a text message to OU Daily before the plea agreement came to fruition, Ball expressed a desire to move on and said he was putting his legal fate in the judge’s hands.

“I’ve been doing my best to just keep a roof over (my childrens) heads and make sure they have normalcy in their lives,” Ball wrote. “Trying to survive on my (Veterans Affairs) disability and city council income has been a challenge and deciding whether to pay for a lawyer or 2 months rent isn’t really a choice at all given my kids have zero other financial support.”

Following Special District Judge Nathaniel Hales’ review and subsequent acceptance of the plea agreement, Ball told OU Daily he was pleased with the outcome and referred further questions to his written statement. 

Background

On Jan. 30, Ball was charged with misdemeanor embezzlement and false certificate by a public officer. 

The charges stem from an investigation conducted by the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigations into Ball’s campaign finances after a request was sent from the Norman Police Department. OSBI’s investigator Adam York concluded that he believed Ball and his wife Kayla Ball embezzled campaign funds. York also believed Ball filed two false campaign finance reports.

According to a signed Cleveland County courthouse affidavit from York, several expenditures were called into question including a payment to Dental Depot for a tooth extraction that was listed as “event preparation,” payments to Walmart and payments for personal bills.

Ball has denied the charges since they were made public, repeatedly questioning the timing and motivation behind the charges because of his then-ongoing reelection campaign for the Ward 1 seat. 

Then-Cleveland County District Attorney Greg Mashburn later replied to Ball’s allegations by telling Fox 25 he had not heard of Ball until OSBI presented their case to his office.

In the Feb. 11 election, Ball, who received 23.81% of 1,235 votes, was defeated by David Gandesbery who received 64.78% of the votes.

This story was edited by Ismael Lele and Ana Barboza.