Ravia Resident Sentenced For Sexually Abusing A Minor In Indian Country

MUSKOGEE, OKLAHOMA – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma announced that Lance Alden Whelchel, age 28, of Ravia, Oklahoma, was sentenced to 36 months in prison for sexually abusing a minor in Indian Country.

The charges arose from investigations by the Tishomingo Police Department, the Johnston County Sheriff’s Office, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

On November 29, 2021, Whelchel pleaded guilty to one count of Sexual Abuse of a Minor in Indian Country.  At the plea hearing, Whelchel admitted that between June and August of 2020, he sexually abused a child under the age of 16.

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 Johnston 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 hearings in Oklahoma City.  Whelchel 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 Edith A. Singer represented the United States.