Defendant in funeral fraud case sentenced to prison

TULSA, Okla. (AP) -- A former congressional candidate has been sentenced to four years and nine months in prison in a fraud case involving money that was paid in advance for funerals.<br><p align="justify">U.S.

Wednesday, January 10th 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

TULSA, Okla. (AP) -- A former congressional candidate has been sentenced to four years and nine months in prison in a fraud case involving money that was paid in advance for funerals.

U.S. Senior District Judge H. Dale Cook on Tuesday sentenced Elijah Thomas Dunlap Jr., 56, to the maximum sentence under applicable sentencing guidelines. Dunlap pleaded guilty in October to three counts of a 23-count federal indictment.

A grand jury alleged that in late 1994 Dunlap, as chief executive officer of Dunlap Funeral Services Inc., had agreed to buy several funeral homes as well as prepaid funeral trust accounts from Stanleys Funeral Service in Tulsa, Kennard Funeral Services in Broken Arrow and Kelley Funeral Homes.

According to the indictment, the total cost of the funeral homes and their assets was $5.99 million. Dunlap purportedly was able to get a $3.9 million loan and then began negotiations with Massachusetts and Texas companies for further financial support.

The grand jury stated that those organizations were concerned about his finances. Those reservations apparently led to Dunlap's sending false and forged documents concerning his personal net worth, which brought the $2 million investment Dunlap sought and eventual criminal charges.

Three days after the Jan. 10, 1995, closing, Dunlap was accused by the grand jury of repaying a $400,000 loan from Stillwater National Bank by using prepaid funeral benefit funds.

Cook said that later this year he will pinpoint the amount of restitution Dunlap will be expected to pay. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Leitch said the amount may end up being about $1 million, including $100,000 earmarked for the First National Bank of Broken Arrow.

Dunlap will also have to pay $250 in court costs and serve five years of supervised release.

Dunlap came within 4,000 votes of becoming a congressman in 1976. He won the Democratic nomination from Oklahoma's 5th District in 1976 before narrowly losing to Republican Mickey Edwards in the general election.

Dunlap's prison sentence begins Feb. 12.

Dunlap also pleaded guilty in October to forging the signature of his father, E.T. Dunlap Sr., on Jan. 9, 1997, to get a loan of $50,050 from MidFirst Bank in Oklahoma City.

The elder Dunlap, an Oklahoma Hall of Fame member and chancellor for the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education for 20 years, died later that month.