A plea for help from everyone I know...for a friend in desperate need

I post this entry with a heavy heart. One of my good friends from church's husband has been involved in a lot of trouble with his job. He recently found out some things about his boss, who happens to be the director of the Oklahoma Merit Protection Commission, that are not good. He has reason to believe the things he has found out not only involve her, but also some people higher up in the Oklahoma government...and possibly the federal government.

His name is Austin Gilley. He is (or was, as he's been put on administrative leave with pay) the deputy director of the Oklahoma Merit Protection Commission. I'm not really sure what they do, but Austin seemed to think that his job before was to make sure corruption like this DOESN'T happen...now he's thinking that his job for the last 2 1/2 years has been to cover things up.

Last August, he was offered a job with the Grand River Dam Authority, up in northeastern Oklahoma. It was the perfect opportunity. He was getting paid more, could afford a bigger house for his wife and daughter, and would be closer to her parents. He worked there for 4 days, found out things he didn't want to know about and decided he needed to come back here. Fortunately (or at least he thought at the time), he got his old position back. Now it turns out there may be a connection to the things he found out about the GRDA and his boss...and a possible real estate scheme that's going on up by Grand Lake, one of the elite real estate spots in Oklahoma where lots of well-to-do people want land.

As a result of him knowing these things and sending out this email, he was put on administrative leave with pay and asked to turn in a backup tape and network passwords in the Attorney General's office last week. Unfortunately, he felt it would be detrimental to his case to turn over the passwords, as he would then possibly be giving his boss a way to get rid of any incriminating evidence regarding her or anyone else involved. He took with him to the AG's office a briefcase full of documentation, the keys to his office and the backup tape. The AG's office refused to take the briefcase and insisted on the passwords. Austin refused to leave unless the assistant AG who demanded his information in the first place took his briefcase and itemized all that was in it because he felt it was important to his credibility. If they did not, then he had reason to believe their boss was in collusion with his. As a result of the stand-still that came about, the AG had Austin arrested for "disrupting government business" because he would not leave, which sounds a bit like they were trying to find a reason to arrest him to shut him up. After his jail experience, he believes his suspicions about his boss and the AG's involvement together were validated.

I'll let the video he made tell you the rest...it's about 14 minutes long....but PLEASE take the time to watch it so that you get his side of the story. So far, all that's been said was this article in the Daily Oklahoman that mentions nothing of why he refused to give over the passwords or anything having to do with his side: State official arrested in dispute

Here's the link to the video on Metacafe, a site that's based out of Israel, similar to Youtube...but, of course, not based in the US...which he felt might be better. Austin's video

His main concern is getting this information out to the public. He feels that the more the public knows, the less the government will be able to strong-arm him into doing what they want, which is keeping quiet. All he wants is a fair hearing, because he knows that if that happens, the truth will come out.

PLEASE pray for him and for his wife and two daughters (one will be 2 in July, the other was born in April). He feels like those closest to him don't believe him (including family and close friends) because they think he's paranoid. It sounds like something straight out of a movie, I know. But it's not one he wants to be in because, as he said, he's not Harrison Ford or Brad Pitt or some other action hero!

If you feel so led, spread the word! All that can do is further his cause of bringing the truth to light!