Pontotoc County Resident Sentenced For Involuntary Manslaughter In Indian Country

MUSKOGEE, OKLAHOMA – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma announced that Lloyd Ray Hatley, age 68, of Ada, Oklahoma, was sentenced to 48 months in prison for Involuntary Manslaughter in Indian Country.

The charges arose from an investigation by the Oklahoma Highway Patrol and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

On April 29, 2022, a federal jury found Hatley guilty of involuntary manslaughter at trial.  During the trial, the United States presented evidence that on February 22, 2017, Hatley was driving on State Highway One in Pontotoc County when he rear-ended another vehicle.  The investigation revealed that Hatley failed to brake until less than a second before impact.  The collision killed a passenger in the other vehicle, and severely wounded the driver.

The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma prosecuted this case because the defendant is a member of a federally recognized Indian tribe and the crime occurred in Pontotoc County, within the boundaries of the Chickasaw Nation Reservation and the Eastern District of Oklahoma.

The Honorable Charles B. Goodwin, U.S. District Judge in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, sitting by appointment, presided over the hearing in Oklahoma City.  Hatley will remain in 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 Kevin Gross and Special Assistant United States Attorney Lauren Ibanez represented the United States.