EX-COAL COUNTY COMMISSIONER, SON PLEAD GUILTY

MUSKOGEE -- A former Coal County commissioner has pleaded guilty to a
federal charge of bank fraud, while his son pleaded guilty to growing
700 marijuana plants.

J.N. Flint, 73, and J. Don Flint, 50, agreed Thursday to the charges
and to plead guilty, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Wilson. The
elder Flint admitted to defrauding Farmers State Bank of Allen by
using cattle as collateral for a loan when the cattle previously had
been pledged by his son as collateral for a loan from First American
Bank in Stonewall.

Farmers State Bank lost $45,500 as a result of the fraud, Wilson
said.

J. Don Flint admitted cultivating marijuana. He and his father were
arrested Aug. 15, 1997, after Sheriff Tony Taylor and state drug
agents in a helicopter saw marijuana growing on the Flints' farm.

Taylor said he saw marijuana plants on the property that were 18 feet
tall.

After their arrest, the Flints were charged in Coal County with
unlawful cultivation of marijuana. According to court records, those
charges were dismissed six weeks later in favor of federal
prosecution.

The elder Flint had been under federal investigation since before his
1997 arrest, Wilson said.

J.N. Flint was a county commissioner for two terms ending in 1990,
said current Coal County Commissioner Johnny Ward.

Checked-by: Rich O'Grady