Former Tulsa schools official, construction contractors charged with stealing school bond money

OKLAHOMA CITY — A former Tulsa Public Schools administrator and the owners of a construction contractor have been accused of an “elaborate” scheme to defraud the district of $779,317 in bond funds.

Attorney General Gentner Drummond and Tulsa County District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler on Thursday filed 27 criminal charges against TPS’s former bond director, Charles Christopher Hudgins, and Gayle Gwinup and Thomas McKenna, partners of Allied Engineering Group.

Investigators allege Hudgins from 2019 to 2024 used his position at TPS to have the district pay Gwinup and McKenna’s company for dozens of school roofing projects that ultimately weren’t performed. Allied Engineering Group then, in turn, paid most of that money to Hudgins’ personal business, court documents contend.

Hudgins, Gwinup and McKenna have been charged in Tulsa County District Court with conspiracy to defraud a school district, several counts of embezzlement, and making and receiving numerous kickbacks. 

Allen Smallwood, an attorney representing McKenna, said everything his client did was legal and contractually approved by appropriate authorities. 

“He was never paid a kickback, and he’s committed no crimes,” Smallwood said. “This is going to be a very defensible allegation. He didn’t do anything wrong, and his life’s been wrecked. Whoever’s responsible for this may end up paying for it.”

Hudgins’ attorney, Rick Cella, declined to comment. Gwinup’s attorney, Corbin Brewster, did not immediately return a request for comment.

An investigation is still ongoing that could lead to additional charges against the three defendants, Drummond said during a news conference Thursday.

“Every dollar stolen is a dollar that never became a safe roof, a repaired classroom or a better learning environment for a Tulsa child,” Drummond said.

Tulsa Superintendent Ebony Johnson has been a “transparent, collaborative, cooperative” partner in the investigation, the attorney general said. Charging documents list 12 TPS officials as witnesses for the prosecution.

Johnson’s administration implemented “significant safeguards and operational changes” to improve financial transparency and oversight “to ensure this does not occur again,” a Tulsa district statement reads. 

“Our students and community deserve every dollar meant for them, and we remain fully committed to supporting the judicial process as this case moves forward,” the district said.

Hudgins was the district’s executive director of bond and energy management, a position that gave him control over school bond projects and authority to choose vendors. He left the district in February 2025.

The Oklahoma State Auditor and Inspector’s Office first identified Hudgins as a concern in a February 2025 audit report. It referred the issue to the Attorney General’s Office for potential prosecution.

The audit found Hudgins’ personal company was a subcontractor for Allied Engineering Group at the same time he was overseeing TPS projects that Allied had been hired to complete. Auditors said this could violate state law and the district’s conflict of interest policy.

Hudgins also ran his personal company during district work hours and while using TPS resources, auditors reported.

State Auditor and Inspector Cindy Byrd said her office is preparing a second audit of the school district. She declined to comment further on either audit report because a follow-up investigation is ongoing.

Her first TPS audit found a widespread lack of transparency, failure to comply with purchasing rules and attempts to circumvent school board oversight by former Tulsa Superintendent Deborah Gist’s administration.

The audit also reinforced fraud allegations already leveled at Devin Fletcher, the district’s former chief talent and equity officer. Fletcher is serving 30 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to a charge of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, stemming from actions in his role at TPS.

The mechanisms now in place at TPS are “adequate” to protect against fraud, Drummond said, but he warned any entity, public or private, should stay vigilant. The scheme discovered in this case, he said, was “elaborate and very sophisticated.”