TULSA FIREFIGHTER CHARGED IN METHAMPHETAMINE CASE

A Tulsa firefighter was arrested Thursday and charged with maintaining an
apartment used for the manufacture of methamphetamine.

Johnny Mark Kirk is charged with keeping an apartment in Tulsa where
methamphetamine was allegedly produced on June 26, July 5 and July 8.

Kirk, who according to city records has been a Tulsa firefighter since
October 1988, was named in an April 14 indictment that was under seal until
he made an initial appearance late Thursday afternoon in the Tulsa
courtroom of U.S. Magistrate Claire V. Eagan.

At least for now, Kirk waived his right to a detention hearing and will be
kept in custody pending resolution of the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert T. Raley said Kirk was arrested by Drug
Enforcement Administration task force agents about 2:30 p.m. Thursday.

Tulsa police received a tip Thursday morning from a person who reported a
possible sighting of fugitive Linda Sue Bear at Kirk's west Tulsa
residence, Raley said. Bear had been featured in Thursday's Tulsa's Most
Wanted feature in the Tulsa World.

A check of the house by the warrant squad did not net Bear but did
ultimately result in Kirk's arrest by the DEA, Raley said. It is unclear if
Bear really had been at the house or if the tip was a coincidence.

Bear is among 15 people who were charged with conspiracy and manufacturing
methamphetamine in a federal indictment handed down Feb. 13. Seven of the
15 suspects pleaded guilty to various charges on Wednesday.

Kirk is not one of the 15 people charged in the methamphetamine conspiracy
indictment, but his name does appear in the plea agreement of Bristow
resident James Levi Edmondson.

Edmondson pleaded guilty Wednesday to conspiracy, possession with intent to
distribute methamphetamine and maintaining a place for the purpose of
distributing, manufacturing and using methamphetamine.

Edmondson claimed in his plea agreement that in late June 1997, Kirk
provided him with a key to an apartment located in the 6800 block of South
Lewis Avenue. Edmondson maintained that Kirk allowed him to use the
apartment to manufacture methamphetamine and that Kirk was paid one-eighth
of an ounce of meth for his hospitality.

Edmondson claimed that he manufactured the drug at the apartment on three
occasions in July 1997.

Raley said Thursday that the case against Kirk is "a direct spinoff" of the
Edmondson case.