Tahlequah Resident Pleads Guilty To Arson In Indian Country

MUSKOGEE, OKLAHOMA – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma announced that Wesley Wayne Sutton, age 59, of Tahlequah, Oklahoma, entered a guilty plea to Arson in Indian Country.

The Indictment alleged that, on June 1, 2024, Sutton maliciously set fire to a dwelling.  The crime occurred in Cherokee County, within the boundaries of the Cherokee Nation Reservation, in the Eastern District of Oklahoma.

The charge arose from an investigation by the Tahlequah Fire Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

The Honorable Gerald L. Jackson, U.S. Magistrate Judge in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, accepted the plea and ordered the completion of a presentence investigation report.  Sutton will remain in the custody of the United States Marshal Service pending sentencing.

Assistant United States Attorney Kevin Gross represented the United States.