Tahlequah Woman Pleads Guilty to Interstate Travel in Aid of Racketeering Enterprise

Muskogee, Oklahoma - The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, announced that AMANDA DAWN COOKSON, age 27, of Tahlequah, Oklahoma pled guilty to Interstate Travel or Transportation in Aid of Racketeering Enterprises, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1952(a)(3).

Charges are a result of an investigation by the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and was coordinated by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) of the Eastern District of Oklahoma. OCDETF is an initiative led, and coordinated by, the Office of the United States Attorney. The defendant was indicted in July, 2014.

The Indictment alleged that beginning on or about April 22, 2012, the defendant, traveled in interstate commerce from the State of Oklahoma to Little Rock, Arkansas, and purchased Oxycodone from Walgreens Pharmacy with a false prescription with the intent to promote, manage, establish, carry on and facilitate the promotion, management, establishment and carrying on of an unlawful activity, that is, a business enterprise involving narcotics or controlled substances in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Sections 846, 841(a)(1), and 841(b)(1)(C), and thereafter performed or attempted to perform an act to promote, manage, establish and carry on, and to facilitate the promotion, management, establishment and carrying on, of such unlawful activity.

The Honorable Kimberly E. West, Magistrate Judge in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, in Muskogee, accepted the guilty plea and ordered the completion of a presentence report. Sentencing will be scheduled following its completion. The defendant will remain in the custody of the United States Marshal Service pending sentencing.

The statutory range of punishment is not more than 5 years imprisonment and/or up to a $250,000.00 fine.

Assistant United States Attorney Shannon Henson represented the United States.