Federal Jury Convicts Cherokee County Resident Of Aggravated Sexual Abuse And Abusive Sexual Contact In Indian Country

MUSKOGEE, OKLAHOMA - The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma announced today that Jacob Lance Pritchett, age 32, of Cherokee County, Oklahoma was found guilty by a federal jury of Aggravated Sexual Abuse and Abusive Sexual Contact in Indian Country. The jury trial began on Tuesday, July 5, 2022, and concluded on Friday, July 8.

During the trial, the United States presented evidence that the Defendant sexually abused a child on multiple occasions when the victim was six to nine years of age. The United States also presented evidence that on one occasion the Defendant sexually abused a second victim when the child was in the fifth grade.

The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma prosecuted the case because the Defendant is a member of a federally-recognized Indian tribe and the crimes occurred in Cherokee County, within the boundaries of the Cherokee Nation Reservation and the Eastern District of Oklahoma.

The guilty verdicts were the result of an investigation by the Cherokee Nation Marshal Service and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The Honorable Ronald A. White, U.S. District Judge in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma in Muskogee, presided over the trial and ordered the completion of a presentence report. Sentencing will be scheduled following completion of the report. Pritchett was remanded to the custody of the United States Marshal pending the imposition of sentencing.

Assistant United States Attorneys Morgan Muzljakovich and Nicole Paladino represented the United States.