Stilwell Man Sentenced To 60 Months Probation, $52,000 Restitution For Theft From Tribal Organization

MUSKOGEE, OKLAHOMA – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma announced that MICHAEL HILARIO MARTINEZ, age 40, of Stilwell, Oklahoma, was sentenced to 60 months probation, and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $52,000.00 for EMBEZZLEMENT AND THEFT FROM INDIAN TRIBAL ORGANIZATION, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1163 and 2.

The Indictment alleged that from in or about January 2012 to on or about July 3, 2014, in the Eastern District of Oklahoma, the defendant, did embezzle, steal, knowingly and willfully convert to his own use, willfully misapply, and willfully permitted to be misapplied, monies, funds, credits, assets, and property, with a value in excess of $1,000.00, which had been entrusted to the custody and care of him as an employee of the Cherokee Nation, an Indian tribal organization.

The charge arose from an investigation by the Cherokee Nation Marshal Service and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The Honorable Ronald A. White, District Judge in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, in Muskogee, presided over the hearing.

Assistant United States Attorney Edward Snow represented the United States.