Jay Paul Gumm
Member of the Oklahoma Senate
from the 6th district
In office
2002–2010
Personal details
Born (1963-11-29) November 29, 1963
Durant, Oklahoma
Political partyDemocratic
SpouseDeena
ChildrenJacob
ResidenceWiggins, Mississippi
Alma materUniversity of Southern Mississippi
OccupationEconomic development professional, writer, and consultant

Jay Paul Gumm (born November 29, 1963) is an American economic development professional from Bryan County, Oklahoma who served eight years as a member of the Oklahoma State Senate.

Education

Born in Durant, Oklahoma, Gumm received his bachelor's degree from Southeastern Oklahoma State University, where he was a member of Tau Kappa Epsilon Fraternity.[1] He was a realtor and consultant.[2] Prior to being elected to the Oklahoma Senate, Gumm was executive director of the Durant Area Chamber of Commerce.

Political career

Gumm served as a Democratic member of the Oklahoma Senate representing District 6 (which includes all of Bryan, Johnston and Marshall counties and parts of Atoka and Coal Counties) from 2002 through 2010.[3] In 2010, Gumm was defeated in a re-election bid to Josh Brecheen.

Later career

Gumm left Oklahoma to work as executive director of the Stone County Economic Development Partnership in Stone County, Mississippi.[4]

On August 16, 2013, Gumm was arrested and charged with embezzling more than $24,000 from the Stone County Economic Partnership.[5] On January 30, 2014, Gumm was indicted on one count of felony embezzlement and served by OSA Special Agents and Stone County Deputies. Officials say the various instances of embezzlement included Gumm depositing $11,750.00 into his personal account; fraudulently withholding a $2,000.00 personal check that was shown as deposited; depositing a $500.00 fraudulent check into his personal account from a Christmas party; and depositing an $8,060.00 amount from six checks with forged signatures.[6] In February 2016, Gumm agreed to a plea deal in which he would spend two years on probation for embezzlement charges and pay $8,900 to the Mississippi Economic Development Partnership.[7] He was allowed to accept an Alford plea, which lets a defendant plead guilty while maintaining he's innocent, by signing a court document in which he "admits it is in his best interest to enter his plea and that a reasonable jury could find him guilty." Gumm asked for non-adjudication, which could have wiped out his felony charge but Circuit Judge Roger Clark instead sentenced him as a felon.[8]

References

  1. "Distinguished Alumni". Tau Kappa Epsilon. Retrieved November 23, 2023.
  2. Votersmart.org-Jay Paul Gumm
  3. Oklahoma Senate, Biographical Sketch of Jay Paul Gumm
  4. Former Senator Jay Paul Gumm Leaving Oklahoma
  5. Jay Paul Gumm charged with embezzlement
  6. "Ex-senator Jay Paul Gumm indicted in Mississippi - durantdemocrat.com". Archived from the original on 2014-02-23. Retrieved 2014-02-05.
  7. "Jay Paul Gumm enters plea deal, given probation". Retrieved 2017-11-23.
  8. "Jay Gumm says he's innocent of Stone County embezzlement". sunherald. Retrieved 2017-11-23.
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