Tahlequah Resident Sentenced To 30 Years For Child Sex Abuse And Exploitation

MUSKOGEE, OKLAHOMA – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma announced that Leiloni Blake Smith, age 32, of Tahlequah, Oklahoma, was sentenced to 30 years in prison.

Smith was sentenced to 360 months on eight counts of Aggravated Sexual Abuse in Indian Country, 360 months on two counts of Sexual Exploitation of a Child, and 360 months on two counts of Sexual Exploitation of a Child by a Parent.   Smith was also sentenced to 240 months for one count of Possession of Certain Material Involving the Sexual Exploitation of a Minor.  The sentences are to be served concurrently.

On March 21, 2024, Smith was found guilty by a federal jury at trial on thirteen counts of a fourteen count Indictment.

On January 18, 2023, Gregory Neil Bias, Smith’s co-defendant, pleaded guilty to nine separate counts of child sex abuse crimes, eight separate counts of child sexual exploitation crimes, and one federal firearm crime.  On July 31, 2024, Bias was sentenced to 30 years in prison for nine separate counts of child sex abuse crimes, eight separate counts of child sexual exploitation crimes, and one federal firearm crime.

The charges arose from an investigation by the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

According to investigators, in 2020 the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) alerted law enforcement to a Tahlequah-area internet user exchanging electronic files containing images of child sexual abuse.  Agents identified, located, and arrested Bias in January of 2022 for distributing child sexual abuse materials.  At the time of arrest, Bias resided with Smith.   During the investigation, searches of electronic devices belonging to Smith and Bias uncovered multiple depictions of sexual abuse perpetrated by both Smith and Bias on two children.  Smith was subsequently indicted by a federal grand jury in February 2022 of aggravated sexual abuse, sexual exploitation of a child, and possession of child sexual exploitation materials.

The crimes occurred in Cherokee County, within the boundaries of the Cherokee Nation Reservation, in the Eastern District of Oklahoma.

The Honorable Ronald A. White, Chief U.S. District Judge in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, presided over the hearing.  Smith will remain in the 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 Edith A. Singer represented the United States.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.  Led by the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.  For more information about Internet safety education, please visit www.justice.gov/psc and click on the tab “resources”.

We encourage anyone who suspects or has information regarding child sexual exploitation, trafficking of minors, sextortion, child pornography, or any other means of child exploitation to immediately contact law enforcement.  You can file a report on the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC)'s website at www.cybertipline.com, call 1-800-843-5678, contact the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324), or call 877-4-HSI TIP.