Okay Woman Sentenced for Embezzlement
| U.S. Attorney’s Office June 20, 2012 |
MUSKOGEE, OK—The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma announced that Debra Ann Whitaker, age 55, of Okay, Oklahoma, was sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment, followed by a term of 36 months’ supervised release, for embezzlement and theft from an Indian Tribal Organization, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1163. In addition, Whitaker was ordered to pay $240,213.14 in restitution.
The charge arose from an investigation by the Cherokee Nation Marshals Service and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The defendant was indicted in November 2011 and pled guilty in December 2011.
The indictment alleged that in or about January 2008, and continuing until in or about November 2010, within the Eastern District of Oklahoma, the defendant did embezzle, steal, and willfully and knowingly convert to her own use moneys, funds, and credits in excess of $1,000 belonging to the Cherokee Nation, an Indian Tribal Organization.
The Honorable Ronald A. White, District Judge in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, in Muskogee, presided over today’s hearing.
Assistant United States Attorney Melody Nelson represented the United States.