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Press Release

Three Individuals Sentenced On Methamphetamine Distribution, Conspiracy, And Assault Charges

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Oklahoma
Latest Operation "Home of the Brave" Sentences Total 849 Months And $481,000.00

MUSKOGEE, OKLAHOMA – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma announced that CODY LEE McCLENDON III, a/k/a Cody-Mac, age 36, of Tahlequah, Oklahoma was sentenced to 386 months imprisonment, followed by 5 years of supervised release for Conspiracy To Possess With Intent To Distribute And Distribute Five Hundred (500) Grams Or More Of Methamphetamine, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Sections 846, 841(a)(1) and 841(b)(1)(A) and 96 months imprisonment, followed by 3 years supervised release for Assaulting an Officer of the United States in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 111(a)(1). Both sentences were ordered to run concurrently and a money judgement totaling $240,000.00 was also assessed.

MICHAEL DAVID LINCOLN, a/k/a Linc, age 40, of Tulsa, Oklahoma was sentenced to 330 months imprisonment, followed by 5 years of supervised release for Conspiracy To Possess With Intent To Distribute And Distribute Five Hundred (500) Grams Or More Of Methamphetamine, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Sections 846, 841(a)(1) and 841(b)(1)(A). A money judgement totaling $240,000.00 was also assessed.

TIMOTHY BLAYN CROCKER, age 25, of Wilburton, Oklahoma, was sentenced to 37 months imprisonment, followed by 3 years supervised release for Conspiracy in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 371. A money judgement totaling $1,000.00 was also assessed.

Defendants, McClendon and Lincoln, were leaders within the McClendon Drug Trafficking Organization (DTO) primarily involved in the distribution of methamphetamine within the Eastern District of Oklahoma and elsewhere. McClendon, while serving a 20 year sentence for Robbery I, was incarcerated in the Oklahoma State Penitentiary (OSP), McAlester, Oklahoma, from September 26, 2008, until January 27, 2016. Lincoln, while serving a 30 year sentence for Manslaughter I, was incarcerated in the OSP, McAlester, Oklahoma, from October 10, 2006, until January 27, 2016. Beginning in or about the end of 2013 and continuing until on or about January 27, 2016, McClendon and Lincoln utilized cellular telephones illegally smuggled into the prison to coordinate the acquisition and distribution of at least 30 kilograms of methamphetamine within the Eastern District of Oklahoma and elsewhere. Crocker was employed as a corrections officer at OSP, during the month of December 2015, when law enforcement intercepted communications which led to identifying and arresting Crocker as a coconspirator in the McClendon DTO.

The Investigation revealed that McClendon and Lincoln, while inmates within OSP, used cellular phones they kept hidden on their person and inside their prison cells to facilitate the sale and distribution of methamphetamine. Both Defendants used these cellular phones to communicate with co-conspirators via audio phone calls, text messages, and by communicating on the social media website Facebook. Law enforcement obtained a court order to intercept these communications. During the court-ordered 30-day interception period, law enforcement seized approximately 3 kilograms of methamphetamine and identified multiple coconspirators as a direct result of monitoring the cell phone conversations between McClendon, Lincoln, and other coconspirators. An additional 3 kilograms of methamphetamine was seized independent of the intercepted communications.

McClendon and Lincoln are also members of the Indian Brotherhood (IBH), a Criminal Gang whose members are primarily of Native American descent and which operates within and outside the Oklahoma Department of Corrections. The IBH has a defined structure as set out in a written set of by-laws which provides expectations and commands which must be followed for every IBH member. The IBH consists of numerous individual Tribes who are each controlled by a War Chief. The War Chief, with certain limitations, makes command decisions concerning actions to be taken by his Tribe. The IBH utilizes this structure to coordinate the distribution of controlled substances, collections of monies owed for controlled substances, and the protection by force, if necessary, of other IBH members and their drug trafficking interests within and outside the Oklahoma Department of Corrections.

McClendon and Lincoln are IBH War Chiefs and utilized their membership and associations within the IBH to contact other IBH members and associates to assist in the distribution of methamphetamine and other associated drug trafficking activities. While incarcerated, McClendon and Lincoln were able to enlist the aid of Crocker, a corrections officer, to obtain and provide them with contraband items. Crocker was arrested after law enforcement witnessed McClendon DTO coconspirators provide Crocker with approximately ½ kilogram of marijuana for eventual distribution inside OSP. A search of Crocker’s residence led to the seizure of an additional ¾ kilograms of marijuana and approximately 10 ounces of methamphetamine packaged for eventual distribution inside OSP.

McClendon and Lincoln are quick to utilize violence and threats of violence to further the goals and longevity of the IBH. During the investigation of the McClendon DTO, and through information obtained during wiretap intercepts, law enforcement became aware of two instances wherein McClendon sent IBH associates and fellow coconspirators to intimidate and harm other IBH associates. On one occasion, McClendon believed that a codefendant had hidden drugs and money from him and sent associates to beat the codefendant if necessary to locate the drugs and money. On another occasion, McClendon sent other codefendants to assault another individual because McClendon suspected that the individual had robbed a fellow IBH associate.

Close in time to McClendon’s initial appearance in federal court, he attempted to send a written communication from the Muskogee County Jail. In the communication, or note, McClendon specifically identified two coconspirators he believed were cooperating with law enforcement. In McClendon’s words on the note, one of them “ratted us all out, told the Feds everything, they got us all”. The two suspected coconspirators’ in the note have an “X” over their names which signifies an intent to harm or kill them.

Both McClendon and Lincoln have engaged in violent activity while incarcerated in the Muskogee County Jail awaiting disposition in their federal case. McClendon has threatened jail staff and the United States Marshal Service on numerous occasions, destroyed jail property, and assaulted a Deputy United States Marshal. Officers have seized multiple “shanks” or home-made knives from McClendon and Lincoln while they were incarcerated in the Muskogee County Jail, and McClendon has stabbed a fellow inmate with a “shank”.

In previous hearings, 18 codefendants were sentenced for their roles in the McClendon DTO. AMBER CLAPHAN, a methamphetamine distributor and drug and money courier, received a 46 months sentence of imprisonment. DONALD TRAMMEL, a methamphetamine distributor who also maintained large amounts of currency and methamphetamine for the organization, received a 168 months sentence of imprisonment. SAMANTHA SMITH, a methamphetamine distributor and drug and money courier, received a 63 month sentence of imprisonment. TERESA CHAGOLLA, a methamphetamine distributor who also maintained a residence where methamphetamine and currency were kept, received a 70 month sentence of imprisonment. JACOB HORTON MASTERS JR, a methamphetamine distributor who also kept currency for the organization, received an 84 month sentence of imprisonment. NATHAN ROWDEN GREEN, a methamphetamine distributor and drug and money courier, received a 100 month sentence of imprisonment. DUSTY ALLEN DRYWATER, a methamphetamine distributor and drug courier, received a 168 month sentence of imprisonment. ASHLEY NOEL STEELE, a methamphetamine distributor and drug courier, received a 60 month sentence of imprisonment. JIMMY W. SEQUICHIE JR., an enforcer for the DTO, received a 120 month sentence of imprisonment. REGINA ANN BALLARD, a methamphetamine distributor and drug courier, received a 77 month sentence of imprisonment. MATILDA KAY BIRDTAIL, a methamphetamine distributor and drug courier, received a 41 month sentence of imprisonment. FREDERIC PETERSEN BECK JR., a methamphetamine distributor and drug courier, received a 108 month sentence of imprisonment. GARY WAYNE WILDER, a methamphetamine distributor and drug courier, received a 60 month sentence of imprisonment. BRENDA AILEEN AIRINGTON, a methamphetamine distributor who maintained a storage unit for concealing and storing methamphetamine, received a 46 month sentence of imprisonment. BRYAN STEVEN LAFAVOR, a methamphetamine distributor and drug courier, received a 30 month sentence of imprisonment. THERESA JO DAVIS maintained bank accounts for the concealment of drug proceeds and received a 5 year sentence of probation. LATISHA DAWN ARNOLD, a methamphetamine distributor and drug courier, received a 46 month sentence of imprisonment. SHEENA CHANDEL MEIKLE, a methamphetamine distributor and drug courier, received a 46 month sentence of imprisonment.

The charges arose from a joint investigation entitled “Home of the Brave” 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 agencies involved in the investigation were the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics, the McAlester Police Department, the Tahlequah Police Department, the Muskogee Police Department, the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Department, Districts 13, 18, 25 and 27 District Attorney’s Drug Task Forces and Violent Crime Task Forces, the Muskogee County District Attorney’s Office, the Seminole Nation Lighthorse Police Department, the Oklahoma Department of Corrections, the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the McAlester and Tulsa Offices of the Drug Enforcement Administration.

The Honorable Ronald A. White, District Judge in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, in Muskogee, presided over all sentencing hearings. Defendants McClendon and Lincoln will remain in the custody of the United States Marshal Service pending transportation to their designated place of incarceration at which they will serve their nonparolable sentences.

Acting United States Attorney Douglas A. Horn stated, “the positive impact this investigation and subsequent prosecution has had on the communities within the Eastern District of Oklahoma will be felt for some time. The combined effort of multiple state, local, and federal agencies ensured that drug traffickers, no matter where they are located or how difficult it may be to target their activities, will be brought to justice and held accountable for the physical and mental anguish they inflict on the lives and families of those who find themselves involved in the downward spiral of drug use and addiction.”

Assistant United States Attorney Shannon L. Henson represented the United States.

Updated June 1, 2017

Topics
Drug Trafficking
Violent Crime