Choctaw County Resident Sentenced For Federal Drug And Firearm Crimes

MUSKOGEE, OKLAHOMA – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma announced that Joe Clay Harris, age 40, of Boswell, Oklahoma, was sentenced to 56 months in prison for one count of Possession with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine and one count of Felon in Possession of Firearm and Ammunition.  The terms were ordered to be served concurrently.

The charges arose from an investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Hugo Police Department.

On December 2, 2024, Harris pleaded guilty to the charges.  According to investigators, on April 6, 2024, law enforcement serving a search warrant on Harris’s residence discovered Harris in possession of methamphetamine, digital scales, and several small plastic baggies commonly used to package illegal narcotics for distribution.  Law enforcement also seized one .22 caliber semi-automatic rifle and five rounds of .22 caliber ammunition.  Harris was previously convicted of a crime punishable by more than one year imprisonment.

The Honorable Ronald A. White, Chief U.S. District Judge in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, presided over the hearing.  Harris 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 Richard J. Lorenz represented the United States.