Embezzlement charges have been filed against former Pawhuska High School football coach in Oklahoma

Embezzlement charges have been filed against former Pawhuska High School football coach Scotty Ray Gilkey, who was suspended last November during his first season as head coach of the Huskies.

Gilkey, 38, was named in one felony charge of embezzlement and also a seven-count misdemeanor charge. A misdemeanor assault and battery charge also was filed against the coach for a related matter. All three charges were filed last Wednesday in Osage County District Court.

For his initial arraignment Thursday, Gilkey appeared by video before Osage County Special Judge Stuart Tate. Gilkey, who was represented by Tulsa attorney Richard O’Carroll, entered not guilty pleas to all of the charges.

Gilkey posted a bond of $2,500 on the felony embezzlement charge and $1,500 for the misdemeanor charge. No bond was required in the assault and battery case. Jennifer Lynn Gilkey, the coach’s wife, also was named in the multi-part misdemeanor charge. Bond for her was set at $1,500 following entry of a not-guilty plea.

Preliminary hearings were scheduled by Tate on July 26 at 9 a.m.

A PHS graduate, Gilkey was named last May to fill the vacant head coaching position of the Huskies. Approximately a month after being hired, he conducted a Huskie Football Skills Camp at the school. At least part of the criminal allegations reportedly stem from the handling of funds in connection with the camp.

Gilkey was suspended as coach in early November, just a few days before the Huskies were to play a Class 2A state playoff game. The suspension was announced by the local school Superintendent, Dr. Landon Berry, who also was in his first year at Pawhuska.

The Huskies, after losing five of their first six season games, dropped the playoff matchup at Commerce and concluded the 2012 campaign with a 4-7 mark. In the course of the season, two longtime PHS assistant coaches had stepped down and Pawhuska finished its year with a three-coach staff.

Pawhuska school officials later asked the Osage County Sheriff’s Office to conduct an investigation involving school funding issues. The investigation was completed early this year.

After graduating at PHS in 1993, Gilkey played football for two seasons at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M. After serving four years in the US Marine Corps., Gilkey returned as a player at Eastern Illinois University, where he was a teammate of current Dallas Cowboy quarterback Tony Romo.

Gilkey previously coached at the high school level in Illinois and at Bartlesville, Union and Tulsa Washington.