Henryetta Resident Sentenced For Child Abuse In Indian Country

MUSKOGEE, OKLAHOMA - The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma announced today that Zion Alexander Canard, age 25, of Henryetta, Oklahoma was sentenced to 24 months in prison, followed by a 5-year term of supervised release, for one count of Child Abuse in Indian Country.

Canard was found guilty of child abuse following a federal bench trial on August 14, 2023.  During the trial, the United States presented evidence that on September 12, 2022, Canard abused an infant left in his care, resulting in a brain hemorrhage, lacerations, and bruising.  The crime occurred in Hughes County, within the boundaries of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation Reservation, in the Eastern District of Oklahoma.

The guilty verdict was the result of investigations by the Muscogee Nation Lighthorse Police, the Tulsa Police Department, the Glenpool Police Department, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The Honorable Keith Starrett, Senior U.S. District Judge in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi, sitting by appointment, presided over the hearing in Muskogee.  Canard will remain in the custody of the U.S. Marshal pending transportation to a designated United States Bureau of Prisons facility to serve a non-paroleable sentence of incarceration.

Assistant United States Attorney Caila M. Cleary represented the United States.