Former Broken Arrow Resident Pleads Guilty To Theft Concerning Programs Receiving Federal Funds And Tax Fraud

MUSKOGEE, OKLAHOMA – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma announced that Michael Anthony Houser, age 36, formerly of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, entered a guilty plea to an Information of one count of Theft Concerning Programs Receiving Federal Funds and one count of Tax Fraud.

The Information alleged that between July 2016 and ending in February 2024, while serving as a manager for the Muscogee (Creek) Nation Gaming Operations Authority Board and later as a manager for the Muscogee Nation Gaming Enterprises, LLC, Houser embezzled and obtained by fraud property owned by the Muscogee (Creek) Nation valued at $5,000.00 or more.  The Information also alleged that Houser willfully filed a 2022 Form 1040 U.S. Individual Tax Return, made under penalties of perjury, which knowingly reported a false Adjusted Gross Income.

The charges arose from an investigation by the U.S. Secret Service and the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation.

The Honorable Gerald L. Jackson, U.S. Magistrate Judge in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, accepted the plea and ordered the completion of a presentence investigation report.  Houser was released on a personal recognizance bond pending sentencing.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kara Traster and T. Cameron McEwen represented the United States.