Court debt relief helps one Oklahoma man begin again

After years of homelessness and addiction, Ernesto Akothe was trying to rebuild his life. But more than $25,000 in fines and fees stood in his way until a judge erased the debt. Not every eligible defendant gets that chance.

One night, while sleeping in a tent in a wooded area in Harrah, Akothe was jolted awake when molten plastic dripped onto his back.

He and his girlfriend were inside the tent, having spent more than a decade without stable housing and moving between a car and a hidden camping spot deep in the woods.

The small fire he had built for warmth on the cold night had spread to the tent’s flaps, and the flames were melting the fabric around them.

“I almost burned alive,” Akothe said.

He woke and struggled with the lock he had placed on the zipper, but it would not open quickly enough. He tore a hole in the tent so they could get out. A few feet away, they watched their belongings burn to ash.

Akothe said the fire felt like a message from God that he needed to turn his life around. He completed drug treatment, joined a church, picked up odd jobs and bought a cheap fixer-upper trailer home. He also began thinking about a future in which his own hardships could help others.

Still, his earlier convictions for driving with a suspended license and drug possession left him with more than $25,000 in court fines and fees. He said few employers would hire someone with a record, and the debt kept him from improving his financial situation.

Two years after the tent fire, Akothe went to the Pottawatomie County courthouse expecting to be handcuffed. He had a hearing before a judge about fines and fees he had no realistic way to pay. Before a recent change in state law, defendants were routinely arrested for failing to pay court debt, and Akothe thought jail was likely.

In Oklahoma criminal cases, defendants often face dozens of fines and fees that help fund the justice system. In Pottawatomie County, charges are also added for each night a person spends in jail if they are convicted. State law allows judges to impose jail time when they determine a defendant can pay but is refusing or neglecting to do so. Oklahomans can also lose their driver’s licenses if they do not pay court debt.

For many poor defendants, those fines and fees can become a “life sentence,” said Ed Wunch, an attorney with Legal Aid Services of Oklahoma who represents people who otherwise could not afford a lawyer.

Wunch and other Legal Aid attorneys travel across the state urging judges to erase fines and fees for people without permanent housing, those unable to work, or those relying on food stamps and housing aid to get by.

“My job is to convince courts that poor people don’t have money,” Wunch said.

In a small room next to the Pottawatomie County courtroom, Wunch and legal interns handed out forms asking about employment history, food stamps and other public benefits so they could show a judge whether defendants could pay.

Akothe met one of the requirements to qualify: Court records showed he was making less than 150% of the Federal Poverty Level. Within an hour, the judge wiped out his debt.

Akothe and his pastor, Jerry Gray, who was with him in court, cried when Wunch shared the news.

“Now he can begin living again,” Gray said. The two planned to celebrate with breakfast at the diner across the street.

The Pottawatomie County judge waived a total of $97,233 that day for 10 defendants.

“Some of them are living on the streets,” said Stephanie Lee-Huff, a Legal Aid paralegal who helped keep track of the total. “Why not waive their fines and fees and give them an opportunity to be a better person than they were in the past?”

Legal Aid attorneys are using a state law enacted through House Bill 2259, which requires judges to consider whether a defendant can afford fines and fees. If a defendant receives certain government assistance, such as food stamps, or earns less than 150% of the poverty level, the judge must reduce the debt or eliminate it entirely.

But judges around the state have not applied the law consistently, according to previous reporting by The Frontier and KOSU.

In Oklahoma County, Special District Judge April Collins denied one man’s request to have his fines and fees waived, saying attorneys had not shown enough proof, after being asked to demonstrate that the law is constitutional. The man has appealed.

While that legal challenge remains unresolved, judges in Oklahoma County are not waiving fines and fees for any defendant. Collins and her attorney did not respond to questions from The Frontier and KOSU.

“The law should be an objective standard: You get the same deal in Oklahoma County and Pottawatomie County,” Wunch said. “Seeing the drastically different result shows that it’s not.”

Building a future

Akothe said having his fines and fees forgiven felt like a blessing.

On an early Sunday morning before Thanksgiving, he stood before fellow members of Emmaus Indian Baptist Church in McCloud. He said he is not much of a public speaker, but he wanted to share his story with the small congregation.

It had been less than a week since the Pottawatomie County judge had cleared his debt.

“I was chained up,” he said. “I keep telling myself, man, when I get old, I’m going to go impound my walker or something for my last payment.”

Akothe said his early years were shaped by loss. His mother was killed when he was six, and by age 13 he had begun using drugs to cope with her death and other difficulties. He said he had little hope for the future.

His life has changed. Krystal Jones, the woman who was with him during the tent fire and is now his wife, sat in the pews with her son during his testimony and wiped away tears. After the service, the family joined other church members for a potluck behind the chapel.

Akothe said he is looking ahead with excitement. A friend is helping him start the process of clearing his criminal record so he can find work more easily and take a mission trip outside the country.

He hopes to open a sober living home in McCloud one day to help others find recovery. He said he understands how powerful forgiveness and a supportive community can be.

Akothe and Jones said more Oklahomans should have a chance to build a future without crushing fines and fees.

“If you want someone to change,” Jones said, “then help them change.”