Ardmore Resident Sentenced For Felony Assault

MUSKOGEE, OKLAHOMA – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma announced that Richard Alan Chastain, age 53, of Ardmore, Oklahoma, was sentenced to 57 months in prison for one count of Assault with a Dangerous Weapon with Intent to Do Bodily Harm in Indian Country.

The charge arose from an investigation by the Ardmore Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

On December 16, 2024, Chastain pleaded guilty to the charge.  According to investigators, on July 17, 2024, Chastain attacked an individual at his encampment in Ardmore, Oklahoma.  Chastain chased the victim beyond the boundaries of the encampment, striking the victim multiple times with a machete.  The victim fled but sustained serious injuries, including severe cuts to his limbs and a severed thumb.  Law enforcement responding to an emergency call found the victim unconscious near the railroad tracks and a trail of blood leading back to the encampment.  The crime occurred in Carter County, within the boundaries of the Chickasaw Nation Reservation, in the Eastern District of Oklahoma.

The Honorable Eric F. Melgren, Chief U.S. District Judge in the United States District Court for the District of Kansas, sitting by assignment, presided over the hearing.  Chastain will remain in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service pending transportation to a designated United States Bureau of Prisons facility to serve a non-paroleable sentence of incarceration.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan E. Soverly represented the United States.