OKC Thunder co owner, Aubrey McClendon, has died in a fiery car crash ironically one day after he was charged with conspiracy, leaving investigators to wonder if this was more than just an accident.
According to ESPN, just less than 24 hours since it was announced that McClendon would be charged for conspiring to rig bids to buy oil and natural gas leases, the OKC partial owner was killed when his Chevy Tahoe ran into a concrete bridge pillar and then caught on fire this morning. Authorities say he was definitely speeding without wearing his seatbelt and apparently he didn’t try to stop the impact either. He died instantly.
“He pretty much drove straight into the wall,” Oklahoma City Police Capt. Paco Balderrama said. “The information out there at the scene is that he went left of center, went through a grassy area right before colliding into the embankment. There was plenty of opportunity for him to correct and get back on the roadway, and that didn’t occur.”
McClendon, who owned an estimated 20 percent of the Thunder, also was a founder and former chief executive of Chesapeake Energy before leaving and creating American Energy Partners. The lawsuit hanging over McClendon’s head states that the 56-year-old “orchestrated a conspiracy between two large oil and gas companies to not bid against each other for the purchase of certain oil and natural gas leases in northwest Oklahoma.”
The indictment also alleges that McClendon had been rigging purchases from December 2007 to March 2012, apparently the conspirators would know before hand who would get the bids and the winner would pay an interest fee for leasing to the other company. According to ESPN, “Leasehold interests usually include the right to develop the land and to extract oil and natural gas for a period of time, typically three to five years.”
However McClendon has stuck by his innocence throughout the controversy and even released a statement the day before he passed,”The charge that has been filed against me today is wrong and unprecedented,” he said. “All my life I have worked to create jobs in Oklahoma, grow its economy, and to provide abundant and affordable energy to all Americans. I am proud of my track record in this industry, and I will fight to prove my innocence and to clear my name.”
According to the Sherman Antitrust Act, if convicted McClendon would have faced a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison for each violation and a $1 million fine for individuals.
We will keep his family and friends in our prayers. Lets chat below
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