Tulsa Resident Sentenced For Leaving The Scene Of A Fatal Accident

MUSKOGEE, OKLAHOMA – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma announced that Gary Wayne Fraser, age 54, of Tulsa, Oklahoma, was sentenced to 120 months in prison for one count of Leaving the Scene of an Accident Involving Death in Indian Country.

The charge arose from an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, and the Weleetka Police Department.

On September 9, 2024, Fraser pleaded guilty to the charge.  According to investigators, on January 15, 2023, Fraser caused a collision resulting in death, failed to render reasonable aid, and fled the scene of the accident in order to avoid prosecution.  While driving a pickup truck outside Weleetka, Oklahoma, Fraser crossed over the center line and struck a pedestrian walking in the oncoming lane.  Law enforcement investigating a possible collision found the victim laying on the side of the road with visible injuries and Fraser’s empty truck stranded in a ditch with noticeable damage to the front end.  The crime occurred in Okfuskee County, within the boundaries of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation Reservation, in the Eastern District of Oklahoma.

The Honorable John F. Heil, III, U.S. District Judge in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, presided over the hearing.  Fraser will remain in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service pending transportation to a designated United States Bureau of Prisons facility to serve a non-paroleable sentence of incarceration.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jordan W. Howanitz represented the United States.