More than 800 criminal cases have been referred to federal prosecutors in Oklahoma since a July Supreme Court ruling determined that much of northeastern Oklahoma is Indian Country for criminal prosecution purposes.
About 175 of the 850 cases have resulted in an indictment or criminal complaint, officials said. The remaining cases have either been referred to tribal courts or are still under review.
In Tulsa federal court, 279 cases have been referred to prosecutors for possible charges, said Lennea Montandon, spokeswoman for U.S. Attorney Trent Shores’ office in the Northern District of Oklahoma.
Of that number, prosecutors have assumed federal jurisdiction in 139 cases. Another 138 have been sent to the Muskogee (Creek) Nation for possible prosecution in tribal court, and two cases are still under consideration, Montandon said.
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Of the 139 taken on by Tulsa federal prosecutors, the Tulsa World has identified about 61 criminal cases that have been made public and are filed in Tulsa federal court.
Shores said the impact of the McGirt decision has been “substantial” and “immediate.”
“In the last two months, we’ve indicted more than 114 cases, whereas in a typical year, we might indict 230,” Shores said. “This volume of cases is like nothing we’ve ever seen, but my team is stepping up and getting the job done.
“I remain hopeful that more resources will soon be made available so that we can maintain excellent public safety services and uphold our trust responsibility to the tribes.”
Meanwhile, 571 cases have been identified by federal prosecutors in the Muskogee-based Eastern District of Oklahoma, where prosecutors for now are prioritizing cases where the defendant was in state custody and the offense was considered a major crime, said Chris Wilson, first assistant U.S. attorney in the Eastern District office.
Twenty-three of the 571 cases have been referred to tribal court, with “many, many more” expected to travel that route, Wilson said.
The Supreme Court ruling that triggered all of the referrals involved Jimcy McGirt, a 71-year-old American Indian who successfully argued that he should have been prosecuted for child sex abuse crimes in federal court rather than state court, where he was convicted.
The July 9 Supreme Court decision determined that the Muscogee (Creek) Nation reservation in eastern Oklahoma was never disestablished by Congress, meaning that since statehood major crime cases involving American Indians that occurred within the Muscogee (Creek) Nation reservation boundaries should have been filed in federal court rather than state.
The reservation boundaries include much of the city of Tulsa and all of south Tulsa County and all or portions of 10 other counties.
The ruling has caused state prosecutors to dismiss cases prosecuted or being prosecuted in state court that involved an American Indian for a crime in Indian Country.
One of the cases involves McGirt himself, who was named in a superseding indictment Thursday in Muskogee federal court.
The superseding indictment dropped one of three counts of aggravated sexual abuse in Indian Country that had been charged previously, replacing it with one count of abusive sexual contact.
The change occurred after McGirt’s attorney said the charge was not appropriate for the alleged act.
Before his state conviction and sentence were overturned, McGirt was serving a life without parole prison term plus two 500-year sentences after being convicted of the 1996 rape, sodomy and lewd molestation of a minor in Wagoner County.
In all so far, federal grand juries in the Muskogee-based Eastern District of Oklahoma have released 35 indictments with 45 defendants as a result of the McGirt ruling, Wilson said.
Prosecutors have also charged Sean Ellis by criminal complaint after he was arrested in connection with the assault of a family member in Muskogee. Ellis was jailed Thursday on a criminal complaint alleging that he assaulted a nephew with a sword and later fired shots at police.
Ellis told FBI agents after his arrest that he fired about 15 shots from a rifle in their direction “so they would quit pointing their guns at him,” according to a probable cause affidavit filed with the complaint.
Of the 61 cases charged so far in Tulsa federal court, in the Northern District of Oklahoma, about one-third involve a homicide.
Among those previously charged in state court and now charged in Tulsa federal court are Kelsey Dawn Lipp, 25, who was named in a two-count indictment alleging that she was involved in the July 2018 robbery of Owasso resident Dustin Barham, 24, who died after being shot by someone else.
Her case was moved to federal court because she is of Native American descent, according to the indictment.
A grand jury indicted 19-year-old Carl John Irons Jr. on Sept. 9 on a second-degree murder count in connection with the February shooting death of Jeremiah Morris, 17.
Others recently charged in Tulsa federal court under the McGirt ruling:
Jerod LeWayne Goolsby, 25, charged with first-degree murder in connection with the July 2019 shooting death of Kendale Wright. Goolsby is of Native American descent, according to the indictment.
Samuel Wayne Washington, 42, charged with first-degree felony murder in connection with the July 2019 shooting death of Michael Binder during a robbery.
Washington is an American Indian male, according to the indictment.
Michael Leon Johnson, 34, charged with second-degree murder in connection with the October 2019 death of William Joseph Houseman. Johnson was fleeing from Tulsa County sheriff’s deputies when a vehicle he was driving collided with a truck driven by 48-year-old William Houseman, according to police at the time.
Johnson is Native American, according to the indictment.
Related video: Let’s Talk Town Hall discussing the McGirt decision
Let's Talk Town Hall discussing the Supreme Court McGirt decision.
