OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A candidate for Oklahoma chief medical examiner pleaded guilty 14 years ago to criminal ethics violations in Ohio.

The Oklahoman reports Dr. William Cox was accused of personally profiting from autopsies while he was coroner in Summit County, Ohio, and of hiding the income from the Ohio Ethics Commission. He pleaded guilty in 1996 to nine misdemeanors and paid $138,000 in restitution, was put on probation, sentenced to 30 days at a halfway house and ordered to perform 200 hours of community service.

Cox is the acting chief medical examiner in Rhode Island and was traveling to Oklahoma to meet with the board that oversees the medical examiner's office. He could not be reached for comment.

E-mails among board members indicate they are aware of Cox's past with member Charles Curtis promising "a thorough investigation."