Muskogee Resident Pleads Guilty To Assault Of Intimate Partner By Strangulation

MUSKOGEE, OKLAHOMA – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma announced that Colby Eric Dean Ballard, age 28, of Muskogee, Oklahoma, entered a guilty plea to one count of Assault of a Spouse, Intimate Partner, and Dating Partner in Indian County.

The Indictment alleged that on or about April 4, 2023, Ballard assaulted the victim by strangulation.  The crime occurred in Muskogee County, within the boundaries of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation Reservation, in the Eastern District of Oklahoma.

The charges arose from an investigation by the Muskogee Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The Honorable Judge 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.  Ballard was remanded to the custody of the United States Marshal Service pending sentencing.

Assistant United States Attorney Edith A. Singer represented the United States.