Distribution of Forfeiture Sales

MUSKOGEE, OK—Sheldon J. Sperling, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, announced that the Asset Forfeiture Section of the Criminal Division of the United States Department of Justice has approved a plan for sharing the proceeds from the sale of four tracts of real property in Pittsburgh County, Oklahoma. The total amount of $669,508.27 will be distributed to eight state and local agencies involved in the investigation of a drug trafficking organization which was based in that county.

In July, 2007, 11 men and two women were charged with a McAlester-area drug conspiracy that was investigated from 2003 - 2007. The conspiracy involved large quantities of methamphetamine distribution. The prosecution was a part of the United States Attorney’s Office - Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF).

Charges arose from an investigation by the Oklahoma State Bureau of Narcotics, Drug Enforcement Administration, District Attorney Drug Task Forces 18 and 22, Hughes and Pittsburg County Sheriff’s Departments, McAlester Police Department, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Internal Revenue Service, Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, Oklahoma Department of Corrections, Oklahoma Highway Patrol, Oklahoma National Guard, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

The defendants engaged in financial transactions in criminally derived property to further their drug business. The defendants used a portion of money derived from the sale of methamphetamine to purchase additional methamphetamine. Additionally, they invested a portion of the proceeds of their illegal drug sales in assets in such a manner so as to obscure and hide the true source of the money. They purchased assets using currency in such an amount, quantity and form, so that the true source of the funds used to purchase the assets were hidden from law enforcement. They titled purchased assets in the names of nominee owners to avoid potential exposure to forfeiture provisions of drug and money laundering statutes in an effort to preserve their ill gotten gains.

The total sum will be distributed as follows:

McAlester Police Department: $ 220,937.73
Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics: $ 167,377.07
District 18 District Attorney’s Office: $ 80,340.99
District 22 District Attorney’s Office: $ 20,085.25
Muskogee Police Department: $ 13,390.17
Muskogee Sheriff’s Department: $ 13,390.17
Seminole Police Department: $ 6,695.08
Krebs Police Department: $ 13,390.17
Asset Forfeiture Fund (DEA): $ 133,901.64

Assistant United States Attorneys Rob Wallace and Linda Epperley represented the government.