News Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 3, 2004
CONTACT: D. Michael Littlefield, Assistant U.S. Attorney

Oklahoma Methamphetamine Arrest

MUSKOGEE, OKLAHOMA - United States Attorney Sheldon J. (Shelly) Sperling announced that on September 2, 2004, after four (4) days of trial, in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, at Muskogee, Oklahoma, Pamela Raye Howell, a/k/a Pamela Ray Morgan, 33, of Okmulgee, Oklahoma, ­was found guilty of Possession and Distribution of Listed Chemicals; Possession with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine; Attempt to Manufacture Methamphetamine; and Possession of Firearm in Furtherance of a Drug Trafficking Crime.

The charges resulted from an investigation by the Cherokee County Sheriff's Department and the Cherokee Nation Marshal's Service, with the assistance of the Drug Enforcement Administration's Interdiction Team. Assistant United States Attorney D. Michael Littlefield represented the government during the trial.

“Perhaps the most disturbing piece of evidence and testimony in this trial related to a “directional mine,” a booby trap in layman’s terms,” reported United States Attorney Sperling. “Defendant’s possession of this destructive device, underlies her conviction, for possessing a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking criminality. The booby trap was a foot-long wooden plank with an attached spring-loaded mouse trap, designed to fire a 12 gauge shotgun shell.”

“Defendant was convicted for obtaining and delivering thousands of pseudo-ephedrine pills from Texas to the Blue Top area of Cherokee County,” U.S. Attorney Sperling added. “The jury also returned a special verdict concerning a substantial quantity of crank defendant possessed with intent to distribute. The indictment also alleged that defendant possessed enough precursor pseudoephedrine to manufacture some three kilos of crank.”

Sentencing will be scheduled at a later date after the completion of a presentence investigation. “Defendant’s sentence may be enhanced based on her prior 1996 state court conviction and suspended sentence for Possession of Methamphetamine with Intent to Distribute,” U.S. Attorney Sperling noted. The defendant faces a maximum sentence of 60 years imprisonment, a term of supervised release to be determined by the court, and/or a fine of not more than $2,250,000.

Howell was ordered detained following the return of the verdict by the Honorable Ronald A. White, Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma.

Assistant United States Attorney Littlefield stated, “The conviction of Ms. Howell is a direct result of the cooperative spirit of the Cherokee Marshals and the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office during this joint investigation. We applaud these dedicated, hard working officers.”