Former abortion clinic director accused of creating false bomb scare

Linda Meek, the former executive director of Reproductive Services of Tulsa, has been accused by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Tulsa of giving authorities "false and misleading information" which led to a bomb scare at the clinic in August.

Reproductive Services, 6136 E. 32nd Place, and a building next door were evacuated Aug. 13 after Meek made the report. Reports at the time said an employee reported seeing a box in a trash can that she did not recognize to be trash from the clinic.

A Tulsa Police Department bomb technician examined the package and found no explosive device.

Reports that the employee said she heard a ticking sound coming from the box before she called the police were unconfirmed, Tulsa Police Officer Leland Ashley said at the time.

"She told us that the box in the trash can didn't look like trash the clinic usually throws away in that trash can," he said then.....

Neither Assistant U.S. Attorney Dennis Fries nor Meek's attorney, Allen Smallwood, would discuss what Meek's alleged motivation could have been for providing false information.

Meek is charged by the U.S. Attorney's Office, as opposed to a grand jury indictment. Cases prosecuted in this fashion normally result in guilty pleas, although Smallwood indicated that no plea deal has been finalized.

Both Fries and Smallwood said Meek would face a maximum of five years in prison if convicted.

On Thursday, Ashley said he doesn't recall ever being told the name of the employee who made the report.....

Reproductive Services did not respond to requests for comment, but Smallwood said Meek's employment at Reproductive Services ended after the Aug. 13 incident.