Former Detention Officer Sentenced to Serve One Year of Probation for Deprivation of Rights

OKLAHOMA CITY – Last week, KYLE TECUMSEH, 26, a former detention officer with the McClain County Jail, was sentenced to serve one year of probation for deprivation of rights under color of law, announced U. S. Attorney Robert J. Troester.

On March 22, 2023, Tecumseh was charged in a one-count information, to which he pleaded guilty the following day. According to court documents and admissions Tecumseh made during his change of plea hearing, on April 21, 2019, Tecumseh was involved with moving a pretrial detainee, B.B., into a jail cell with a senior United Aryan Brotherhood (UAB) gang member whom Tecumseh knew was angry at and posed a danger to B.B.  Thereafter, Tecumseh allowed another detention officer to move several more UAB gang members into the cell with B.B. and the senior UAB gang member.  The UAB gang members then, as Tecumseh knew was likely to occur, physically attacked B.B.

At the sentencing hearing on October 27, 2023, U. S. District Judge Patrick R. Wyrick sentenced Tecumseh to one year of probation, and a fine of $1,000. In announcing the sentence, the court noted Tecumseh’s duty as a detention officer to protect inmates under his supervision, but also noted his lack of prior criminal history.

This case is the result of an investigation by the FBI Oklahoma City Field Office and the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U. S. Attorney Julia E. Barry for the Western District of Oklahoma and Trial Attorney Laura Gilson of the Civil Rights Division prosecuted the case.