Okmulgee Resident Pleads Guilty To Child Abuse And Neglect

MUSKOGEE, OKLAHOMA – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma announced that TAMBARA LORENE COLLINS, age thirty-seven, of Okmulgee, Oklahoma, entered a plea of guilty on October 24, 2023, to a superseding indictment charging her with two counts of Child Abuse and one count of Child Neglect.

The indictment alleged that between January 1, 2023, and June 12, 2023, Collins caused harm to, threatened harm to, and failed to protect from harm two children while responsible for their health, welfare, and safety.  The crimes occurred in Okmulgee County, within the boundaries of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation Reservation, in the Eastern District of Oklahoma.

On November 17, 2023, Collins’ co-defendant, JOHN RAY COLLINS, JR., age forty-eight, of Okmulgee, Oklahoma, was convicted at trial by a federal jury of one count of Attempted Murder, two counts of Child Abuse, and one count of Child Neglect.

The charges arose from an investigation by the Okmulgee County Sheriff’s Office, the Muscogee (Creek) Nation Lighthorse Police Department, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The Honorable D. Edward Snow, 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. Tambara Lorene Collins was remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service pending sentencing.

Assistant United States Attorney Caila M. Cleary represented the United States.