LAWTON – Southwest Oklahoma District 3 District Attorney David Thomas confirmed that he has received an Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation report which focuses on Comanche County District 3 Commissioner Alvin Cargill.
“There are two more witnesses I’d like interviewed before I make a decision” whether to prosecute, but the agent “working the case is on family leave,” Thomas said. Hopefully the OSBI investigator will be back on duty “within a couple of weeks,” he added.
Thomas is the district attorney for Jackson, Kiowa, Tillman, Harmon and Greer counties.
Southwest Chronicle contacted Cargill by telephone shortly before noon Aug. 16.
The commissioner said he is aware of the OSBI probe into “some allegations” but said he was unaware of precisely what he’s being investigated for. “I was asked some questions and I answered them,” Cargill said. “If you want to know more than that, talk to my attorney,” John Zelbst of Lawton. The Chronicle called Zelbst’s office at noon that day and left a message, but he has not responded.
The Chronicle was told that the OSBI report was first delivered to Kyle Cabelka, district attorney for Comanche and Cotton counties, but he recused himself on the grounds of a conflict. “So the Attorney General’s Office sent it to us to review,” said District 3 First Assistant District Attorney Dan Jacobsma.
Cargill, of Cache, who owns a civil construction business, is completing his fourth year in office. Josh Powers, chairman of Comanche County Rural Water District #5 and owner of a store that sells firearms and ammunition, defeated Cargill in the June 28 Republican primary, 58% to 42%. No Democrat filed for the office.