McAlester Man Pleads Guilty To Drug Conspiracy, Assaulting An Officer Of The United States

MUSKOGEE, OKLAHOMA – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma announced that CODY LEE MCCLENDON III, age 36, of McAlester, Oklahoma, pled guilty to DRUG CONSPIRACY, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Sections 846, 841(a)(1), and 841(b)(1)(A), punishable by not less than 10 years and not more than life imprisonment, and up to a $10,000,000.00 fine or both; and to ASSAULTING AN OFFICER OF THE UNITED STATES, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 111(a)(1), punishable by not more than 8 years imprisonment and up to a $250,000.00 fine or both.

The Superseding Indictment alleged that from beginning in or about the end of 2013, the exact date being unknown to the Grand Jury, and continuing until on or about January 27, 2016, within the Eastern District of Oklahoma and elsewhere, the Defendants did knowingly and intentionally conspire, confederate and agree with each other, and with others known and unknown to the Grand Jury to Possess with Intent to Distribute and to Distribute 500 grams or more of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of Methamphetamine, a Schedule II Controlled Substance.

The Information further alleged that on June 22, 2016, the Defendant forcibly assaulted a Deputy United States Marshal, while engaged in the performance of his official duties, which resulted in physical contact with the Deputy Marshal.

The Investigation revealed that Cody McClendon III, a/k/a Cody-Mac, an Indian Brother Hood (IBH) gang member, while an inmate with the Oklahoma Department of Corrections in McAlester, Oklahoma, was utilizing a contraband cellular phone that he kept hidden on his person and inside his prison cell to facilitate the sale and distribution of methamphetamine. McClendon was doing this by using the cellular phone to communicate with co-conspirators via audio phone calls, text messages, and by communicating on the social media website Facebook. While detained on federal charges pending trial, McClendon forcibly assaulted a United States Deputy Marshal by spitting on him.

The charges arose from a joint investigation entitled “Home of the Brave” coordinated by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) of the Eastern District of Oklahoma.  OCDETF is an initiative led and coordinated by the Office of the United States Attorney.  The agencies involved in the investigation were the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics, the McAlester Police Department, the Tahlequah Police Department, the Muskogee Police Department, the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Department, Districts 13, 18, 25 and 27 District Attorney’s Drug Task Forces and Violent Crime Task Forces, the Muskogee County District Attorney’s Office, the Seminole Nation Lighthorse Police Department, the Oklahoma Department of Corrections, the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the McAlester and Tulsa Offices of the Drug Enforcement Administration.

The Honorable Kimberly E. West, Magistrate Judge in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, in Muskogee, accepted the plea and ordered the completion of a presentence investigation report. The defendant will remain in custody pending a sentencing hearing.

Assistant United States Attorney Shannon Henson represented the United States.