Stilwell Resident Sentenced To Two Years For Arson

MUSKOGEE, OKLAHOMA – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma announced that Arron Lee Gonzalis, age 28, of Stilwell, Oklahoma, was sentenced to 24 months in prison for one count of Arson in Indian Country.

The charge arose from investigations by the Stilwell Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

On October 31, 2023, Gonzalis pleaded guilty.  According to investigators, Gonzalis was captured on video intentionally setting fire to a cardboard box next to a commercial building in Stilwell, Oklahoma, on July 20, 2023.  The fire caused minor damage to the building and the building’s gas meter.  The crime occurred in Adair County, within the boundaries of the Cherokee Nation Reservation, in the Eastern District of Oklahoma.

The Honorable Ronald A. White, Chief Judge for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, presided over the hearing.  Gonzalis will remain in custody of the U.S. Marshal pending transportation to a designated United States Bureau of Prisons facility to serve a non-paroleable sentence of incarceration.

Assistant United States Attorney Kevin Gross represented the United States.