Sequoyah County Resident Sentenced For Federal Firearm Charges

MUSKOGEE, OKLAHOMA – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma announced that Joseph Charles Riddle, age 35, of Muldrow, Oklahoma, was sentenced to eighteen months in prison for one count of Felon in Possession of Ammunition, and eighteen months in prison for one count of Felon in Possession of Firearm and Ammunition.  The Court ordered the terms to be served concurrently.

The charges arose from an investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Sequoyah County Sheriff’s Office.

On May 5, 2025, Riddle pleaded guilty to the charges.

According to investigators, between January 17, 2024, and August 2024, Riddle knowingly possessed a pump action rifle, a pump action shotgun, a bolt action rifle, and 15 rounds of ammunition after having been previously convicted of a crime punishable by more than one year imprisonment.  Investigators also determined that on January 6, 2025, Riddle knowingly possessed 20 rounds of ammunition after having been previously convicted of a crime punishable by more than one year imprisonment.

This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.  Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).

The Honorable John F. Heil, III, U.S. District Judge in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, presided over the hearing.  Riddle will remain in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service pending transportation to a designated United States Bureau of Prisons facility to serve a non-paroleable sentence of incarceration.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lewis M. Reagan and Jonathan E. Soverly represented the United States.