News Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 22, 2004

Plank Pleads Guilty in Federal Court

OCT 22--United States Attorney Sheldon J. (Shelly) Sperling announced today that HAROLD RANDALL PLANK, age 38, of Muldrow, Oklahoma, entered a plea of guilty before United States Magistrate Judge Steven P. Shreder in the United States District Court of the Eastern District of Oklahoma, in Muskogee to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine and distribution of methamphetamine.

On July 15, 2004, PLANK was charged by the Grand Jury sitting in and for the Eastern District of Oklahoma along with three co-defendants in an indictment alleging conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and distribute methamphetamine. Two of the co-defendants, Valencia Eugenea Folsom and Stacey Matthew Rhodes, have pled guilty and are awaiting sentencing.

According to Mike Littlefield, the Assistant United States Attorney representing the government in this case, the charges arise from an investigation by special agents and investigators from the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, Pocola Police Department, Fort Smith Police Department, LeFlore County District Attorney’s Office, Drug Enforcement Administration, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs who participated in this extensive investigation. The DEA task force deployment began in early November, 2003. Acting upon the request of then LeFlore County District Attorney Rob Wallace, the DEA Mobile Enforcement Team, based in Dallas, Texas, met with federal, state and local prosecutors and then assembled a team of investigators from law enforcement agencies across the region to launch an investigation of unprecedented scope in this area. The operation was named “Hell on the Border,” for (hanging) Judge Isaac Parker’s jail in Fort Smith.

Sentencing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation. PLANK faces a possible term of imprisonment of 10 years to life and a fine of up to $4,000,000.00.