Idabel Resident Pleads Guilty to Arson in Indian Country
| U.S. Attorney’s Office July 21, 2011 |
MUSKOGEE, OK—The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, announced today that CHEYENNE BLACKOWL, aka, Cheyenne Fairless, age 18, of Idabel, Oklahoma, pled guilty to arson in Indian Country, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 81, 1151 and 1153.
Charges arose from an investigation by the Choctaw Nation Tribal Police, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. BLACKOWL was indicted in June, 2011.
The Indictment alleged that on or about April 26, 2011, within the Eastern District of Oklahoma, and within Indian Country, the defendant, a member of the Choctaw Nation, did knowingly, willfully and maliciously set fire to a dwelling structure, which caused a total loss of the dwelling structure.
The Honorable Kimberly E. West, Magistrate Judge in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, in Muskogee, accepted the defendant’s guilty plea and ordered the completion of a presentence report. Sentencing will be scheduled following its completion. The defendant will remain in the custody of the United States Marshal Service pending sentencing.
The statutory range of punishment is not more than life imprisonment and/or up to $250,000.00 in fines.
Assistant United States Attorney Dean Burris represented the United States.