Oklahoma’s multi-county grand jury indicted a Massachusetts man Thursday for allegedly impersonating former Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters by sending a fraudulent letter and Bible instructional materials.
Charged with falsely impersonating of a public officer, Owen Thomas Cunningham faces up to six months in county jail, a fine of up to $2,000 or both if convicted of the misdemeanor offense.
Allegedly sent by Cunningham, the August 2024 letter asked school district superintendents to disseminate documents to classrooms, and it harassed, vexed or annoyed Walters and the superintendents, according to the grand jury’s indictment.
“The defendant’s actions constitute a deliberate attempt to deceive Oklahoma educators and undermine public trust in our state institutions,” Attorney General Gentner Drummond said in a press release. “Impersonating a public official is a serious offense, and we will not tolerate efforts to manipulate our schools or create confusion among parents and educators. My office is committed to holding those who engage in such fraudulent schemes accountable.”
An Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation agent’s search warrant application noted that investigators identified Cunningham through fingerprints, his Massachusetts license plate and his phone. The warrant noted that Cunningham was on parole in The Codfish State when OSBI identified him in late 2025.
According to the Tewksbury Police Department, Cunningham was arrested in November 2024 — less than three months following distribution of the letters — after crashing his Dodge Ram into another vehicle, fleeing and hiding in the woods. Cunningham was charged with:
- Failure to stop for police;
- Negligent operation of a motor vehicle;
- Leaving the scene of a property damage accident;
- Marked lanes violation;
- Speeding; and
- Failure to stop for a red light.
It is unclear how that case was adjudicated in Massachusetts, and Cunningham did not respond to a phone call seeking comment. Walters also did not respond to a request for comment made through his spokesperson prior to the publication of this article.
StateImpact’s Beth Wallis reported in August 2024 that a “hoax” letter impersonating Walters had been sent to district leaders along with “supervisory” documents comprised of “80 pages of Biblical lore.” The documents contained a seemingly fictional book titled, “The Book of Aaron: A lost book of the Pentateuch,” according to StateImpact.
The letter referred to Walters as secretary of education — a title he no longer held at the time — and alluded to the Bible directives Walters was championing at the time.
“As of my directive dated June 27, 2024, the Holy Bible now qualifies as printed pedagogical material under Oklahoma law,” Cunningham allegedly wrote in the letter. “This means (…) the department must distribute a Supplemental Supervisory Document of the Holy Bible to all eligible Oklahoma public school classrooms.”
The letter continued by claiming “none of the department’s approved suppliers offer a suitable product.” As such, “the department has retained an outside contractor, Syncretic Pedagogical Services LLC.” The letter said the entity was a privately-funded think tank out of Connecticut and listed a P.O. Box as an official address.
“Enclosed please find a copy of the Holy Bible’s Supplemental Supervisory Document,” Cunningham wrote.
Walters’ push to place Bibles in public school classrooms ended with his resignation. Shortly after he was appointed to succeed Walters, new Superintendent of Public Instruction Lindel Fields said the department has “no plans to distribute Bibles.”
Read the letter sent posing as Ryan Walters
