MUSKOGEE, OKLAHOMA - The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, announced that JADE LaRAE OBREGON, age 38, of Sallisaw, Oklahoma, pled guilty to THEFT OF FEDERAL PROGRAM FUNDS, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1341, punishable by up to 10 years imprisonment, up to $250,000.00 fine or both.

The Indictment alleged that on or about January 1, 2012, and continuing through December 31, 2013, in the Eastern District of Oklahoma, JADE LaRAE OBREGON, defendant herein, being an agent of Sequoyah Memorial Hospital, said organization receiving in the one year period beginning January 1, 2012, benefits in excess of $10,000 from federal health care programs, embezzled, stole, obtained by fraud, and knowingly converted to the use of a person not the rightful owner, property worth at least $5,000 and owned by such organization, that is diabetic test strips.

The charge arose from an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  The defendant was indicted in March, 2016.

The Honorable Kimberly E. West, Magistrate Judge in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, in Muskogee, presided over the hearing.

Assistant United States Attorney Melody Nelson represented the United States.