Alleging Stitt intervention, grand jury slams ‘reprehensible’ favoritism for Sara Polston

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According to a multi-county grand jury report released Friday by Attorney General Gentner Drummond’s office, Gov. Kevin Stitt allegedly used his influence as the state’s top elected official to expedite the monitored release of Sara Polston, a “close personal friend” who served only 73 days of an eight-year prison sentence for a DUI crash that caused significant brain and bodily injuries to a 20-year-old woman.

“Although our investigation uncovered deeply concerning practices and actions (and inactions) by government officials and employees, we ultimately find insufficient evidence exists to establish that a crime was committed,” the report states. “Nor do we find willful or corrupt misconduct or willful malfeasance of any public officer. Nevertheless, we find the current state of [the Oklahoma Department of Corrections]’ GPS program indefensible and the instances of political favoritism reprehensible. Citizens deserve an even playing field irrespective of wealth, social status and political connections. This report is intended to shine a light on the systematic GPS program failures we identified and to make recommendations to protect against such failures in the future.”

On Feb. 7, 2023, cameras in a Norman neighborhood captured Polston driving at high speeds before blowing through a stop sign and colliding with Micaela Borrego’s vehicle. At the time of impact, Polston’s vehicle was traveling 66 mph through a 25 mph zone. Polston was driving with a blood alcohol content of 0.158, nearly twice the legal limit. The accident left Borrego in a coma with a slew of spinal, brain and other injuries. Polston was charged with causing an accident resulting in great bodily injury while driving under the influence. In December 2025, Polston pleaded guilty and received a 15-year split sentence — eight years in prison followed by seven years on probation.

Polston is the wife of prominent tax attorney Rod Polston. The grand jury report (embedded below) says Rod Polston and Stitt are “believed to have attended the same high school and are members of the same college fraternity.” The Polstons had previously hosted a campaign fundraising event at their home and contributed a combined $27,800 to Stitt’s gubernatorial campaigns.

Before Sara Polston was sentenced or had entered DOC custody, the first instance of “troubling favoritism” occurred, according to the report.

“The interim DOC Director, Justin Farris, received a call from the Governor’s Office. That conversation was initially discussing Farris’ appointment to the role (…) The conversation then shifted to the topic of Sara Polston, who was at the time a pending criminal defendant not yet in the custody of DOC. The Governor’s Office inquired about the (pre-sentencing investigation) process for Sara Polston.”

Through his communications director, Farris declined to comment on the findings of the grand jury, before which it appears he testified.

Polstons had ‘a friend left for a year’

Although most of the grand jury’s 14-page report examines the actions of Stitt and the influence sought by the Polstons, it also reveals how former Cleveland County Sheriff Chris Amason worked to “do them a solid” by providing preferential treatment.

“After sentencing, Sara Polston was remanded to the custody of the Cleveland County sheriff to await transport to prison. Rod Polston — attorney, owner of Polston Tax Firm in Norman, and husband of Sara Polston — spoke with Cleveland County Sheriff Chris Amason multiple times regarding his wife’s custody in the Cleveland County Jail,” the report states. “At Rod Polston’s request, Sheriff Amason had Sara Polston initially placed in a medical cell for her comfort and later had her moved to a different cell area because she wanted to be able to watch television. Sara Polston found that cell to be too loud, so Sheriff Amason had her moved back to her original cell at her husband’s request. Sheriff Amason coordinated in-person visitations for the Polstons at Rod Polston’s request. On one occasion, Rod Polston brought his wife Chick-fil-A. She was also issued a tablet in a manner outside of normal procedure. These sorts of inmate accommodations were unprecedented in the Cleveland County Jail. The sheriff informed investigators that he wanted to help the Polstons. He stated he was trying to do Polston a favor and wanted to ‘do them a solid.'”

Amason resigned April 27 on the same day Drummond’s office unsealed a four-count embezzlement indictment against him from the same multi-county grand jury. Amason pleaded no contest to one charge in exchange for the other three to be dismissed, and he received a deferred prison sentence after his attorney struck the agreement with prosecutors.

While Sara Polston was in Amason’s charge at the Cleveland County Jail, her recorded phone calls with her husband included statements about “The Guy,” “Our Friend” and “Our Buddy,” which all appear to be references to Stitt, according to the report.

As outlined in the document, highlights of the calls included:

• Rod Polston assuring Sara Polston that “The Guy” is seeking her transfer from the Cleveland County Jail and that the DOC head was “on top of it”;
• Further assurances that “The Guy” is working on “The P Word” for Sara Polston, but that the “P Word” must first go before the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board. Rod Polston said “The Guy” was checking to see if the board “serves at his pleasure”;
• A call Dec. 7, 2025, in which Rod Polston said he did not want to bother “Kevin,” but that he would speak with him if Sara Polston was not released by that Wednesday; and
• A call Dec. 8, 2025, in which Sara Polston observed they only have “a friend for a year left,” around which time Stitt only had about a year remaining in his final term, as observed in the report’s footnotes.

After remaining in the Cleveland County Jail after sentencing for “just over two days,” as opposed to the report’s stated average of 20-30 days for most inmates, Polston’s solo-transfer to DOC custody was “expedited at the direction of DOC executives.” Farris received another call about Polston directly from Stitt while she was in the Cleveland County Jail. The report notes that expedited transfers from county to DOC custody can occur for “health or behavioral issues,” but Polston had neither.

After a pair of similarly expedited transfers, Polston served just 73 days of her eight-year sentence at Dr. Eddie Warrior Correctional Center before being placed into a GPS monitoring program at her home without the Borrego family’s knowledge.

Attorney General Gentner Drummond issued a brief statement with Friday’s release of the report.

“I appreciate the work of the jury to thoroughly investigate this case and find where improvements need to be made,” Drummond said. “Oklahomans deserve a criminal justice system that is fair and impartial.”

In a Friday interview with News 9, Stitt said his “heart breaks” for the Borrego family while repeatedly emphasizing that the report found no criminal conduct.

“I did zero favors for this inmate,” Stitt said. “The grand jury said there is no criminal wrongdoing from DOC or the Governor’s Office. What you have basically is political gossip and a political statement for a guy running for governor.”

Asked if he made calls to DOC regarding Polston as highlighted in the report, Stitt said he reached out to DOC officials because the process of Polston’s release struck him as “weird.”

“That’s when they said, ‘Hey, this is the normal course, it’s exactly what’s happened. This is the law.’ Corrections followed the law, the grand jury said that,” Stitt said.

The new report marks the second time a grand jury has released a summary of an inquiry into how Stitt has attempted to influence a criminal justice agency. In 2022, an Oklahoma County grand jury wrote that Stitt applied “improper political pressure” to members of the Pardon and Parole Board, but no charges were brought from that investigation either.

Meanwhile, Rod Polston is facing a lawsuit in which a former business partner and minority owner in several of Polston’s ventures was fired after she allegedly raised concerns about the exclusion of roughly $1.9 million of income when calculating business profits, as well as potential violations of the Oklahoma Rules of Professional Conduct for charging clients even though their cases were not being worked on. The plaintiff also accuses Rod Polston of failing to inform employees about which clients they actually represent and allowing “non-lawyer employees to represent clients before the Oklahoma Tax Commission.”

“It is my opinion that you and I could be held tortiously liable for negligent supervision — if not CRIMINALLY liable for willful and intentional negligent supervision,” Shiny Rachel Mathew, the plaintiff and former employee, allegedly wrote in an email to Rod Polston. Mathew was fired after the email, according to her petition.

After Polston’s release, GPS monitoring reform passed without Stitt’s signature

Following Polston’s release under the Department of Corrections’ GPS monitoring program, Sen. Warren Hamilton (R-McCurtain) filed Senate Bill 137, which sought to add causing an accident resulting in great bodily injury while driving under the influence to the list of offenses that make inmates ineligible for electronic monitoring. The bill retroactively applies those changes, which could force Polston back into prison, although the constitutionality of retroactive application has been questioned.

“While we certainly understand the intent of the legislation, Senate Bill 137 unconstitutionally attempts to apply the proposed change retroactively,” Jacqui Ford, president of the Oklahoma Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, said in an April news release. “When writing our Constitution, our founding fathers were explicit that any laws passed by the Legislature should operate going forward, not attempt to apply those changes retroactively.”

Stitt allowed SB 137 to pass into law without his signature May 5, something he framed during his News 9 interview as having “supported” the bill. Asked if he believed Sara Polston should be in prison, Stitt hesitated.

“On the current law, no, because of the ankle bracelet. But going forward, yes. Seventy three days on a sentence is too short,” Stitt said. “That’s why we passed that (bill), because again, it doesn’t pass the smell test on how quickly someone got out. But that was the law. Corrections did everything right, and I just want to keep reiterating that, without any influence from me or anyone else. That was just a normal course, and that’s what they testified to.”

When further pressed on the fact he did not actually sign the legislation, instead allowing it to become law without his signature, Stitt acknowledged the fact.

The grand jury report ended with a list of recommendations, some of which SB 137 seems to fulfill. Those include:

• Passage of legislation requiring an inmate to serve a minimum length of their sentence before eligibility for GPS release and requiring DOC to inform victims of such release;
• Revision of DOC policies to “ensure victims are consulted and provided an opportunity to be heard” before an inmate’s GPS release and requiring any inmate currently sentenced for causing an accident resulting in great bodily harm be returned to traditional custody;
• Establishment of training programs for DOC administrators overseeing programs that release inmates from traditional custody, including “ethical considerations, victim rights and conflicts of interest”; and
• Passage of legislation limiting “the discretion afforded to DOC administrators” that oversee programs releasing or transferring inmates from traditional custody to alternative incarceration.

Listen to the Polstons’ Dec. 6 call

Read the full grand jury report

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