Sallisaw Woman Sentenced To 12 Months 1 Day, $574,000 Restitution For Theft Of Federal Program Funds

MUSKOGEE, OKLAHOMA – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma announced that JADE LaRAE OBREGON, age 38, of Sallisaw, Oklahoma, was sentenced to 1 year and 1 day of imprisonment for THEFT OF FEDERAL PROGRAM FUNDS, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1341. OBREGON was also ordered to pay $574,385.94 in restitution.

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 Honorable James H. Payne, District Judge in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, presided over the hearing.

The charges are a result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. OBREGON was ordered to report to the Bureau of Prisons on January 15, 2017.

Assistant United States Attorney Melody Nelson represented the United States.