McCurtain Co. Jail supervisor's guilty plea connects to wider 2023 county leadership scandal

A former McCurtain County Jail supervisor is expected in court on Wednesday as part of a larger case involving county leadership.

Christopher Johnson is expected to plead guilty to federal charges related to an attack on Roper Harris, an inmate at the McCurtain County Jail, in 2021. Johnson was a jail supervisor at the time, and court documents say Johnson orchestrated the attack on Harris.

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The case led to multiple McCurtain County leaders being implicated in a leaked audio recording in 2023 that captured violent comments.

Bruce Willingham, publisher of the McCurtain Gazette, was at a scheduled county commissioner's meeting to investigate Harris' assault. Willingham said he also sought to prove commissioners were violating open meeting laws, and left his recorder behind, which captured the conversation.

The audio recording captured county officials talking about lynching Black people, killing two local reporters, and making a joke about a woman who died in a fire.

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Willingham later said he was shocked by what he heard.

“I was expecting chitter chatter about county business, and that’s how it started," Willingham said. "Then it got down to the extremely serious stuff.”

While the Oklahoma Attorney General’s office later said the recording had been altered and found no criminal wrongdoing, the fallout led to Commissioner Mark Jennings’ resignation and Sheriff Kevin Clardy losing his reelection bid.

MORE: McCurtain Co. Officials Suspended From Oklahoma Sheriffs’ Association After Audio Clips Released

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Johnson is the first to be charged, and authorities are watching to see if more indictments will follow.

Johnson's hearing begins at 1:30 p.m.