Criminal Division

The Criminal Division has several areas of emphasis, including the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF), Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), Immigration Enforcement, Indian Country, Project Safe Childhood (PSC), Anti-Terrorism, White Collar, and General Crimes.

The Criminal Division Assistant U.S. Attorneys (AUSA) handle all criminal case phases, including deciding whether to prosecute an offender, presenting to the Grand Jury, the initial appearance, discovery, motions, trial, and sentencing.

The criminal offenses are investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the U.S. Secret Service, ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ICE), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and agents from the Offices of Inspectors General. Our federal law enforcement partners collaborate with local, state, and tribal law enforcement to bring charges. 
 

Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF)

OCDETF is the centerpiece of the U.S. Attorney General’s strategy to combat transnational organized crime and reduce the availability of illicit narcotics in the nation by using a prosecutor-led, multi-agency approach to enforcement. OCDETF implements a nationwide strategy that coordinates intelligence sharing and directing resources to have the greatest impact on disrupting and dismantling elements of criminal organizations.

The U.S. Attorney's Office (USAO) has a team of prosecutors who work hand-in-hand with law enforcement agencies to prosecute these cases in the Northern District of Oklahoma (NDOK). OCDETF leverages the resources and expertise of its partners in coordinated, long-term enterprise investigations of transnational organized crime, money laundering, and major drug trafficking networks. Additionally, the OCDETF team supports Immigration Enforcement teams.
National OCDETF Web Site
 

Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN)

PSN is a nationwide commitment that brings together federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement officials, prosecutors, community leaders, and other stakeholders to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in a community and develop comprehensive solutions to them.

A major goal of PSN is to incorporate research and data analysis, and lessons learned from other violent crime reduction initiatives, to inform its decision-making on the most effective violence reduction strategies. 

The district's PSN Coordinator partners with federal, local, state, and tribal law enforcement to identify cases that should be investigated and prosecuted federally. The district employs several AUSAs that implement this program. They engage with community stakeholders and help to strategize prevention, intervention, strategic enforcement, and accountability. Further, the PSN team supports the immigration efforts of the Immigration Enforcement teams.  
National PSN Web Site
 

Immigration Enforcement

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Oklahoma aggressively prosecutes violations of the nation’s immigration laws.  These include the re-entry of deported aliens with criminal convictions, aliens in possession of firearms, human trafficking for sex or labor, human smuggling, and narcotics distribution.  The office participates in multiple task forces with federal and state law enforcement, such as OCDETF, PSN, HSI Task Force, Task Force Alpha, and Task Force Vulcan. These task forces support the Department’s mission of immigration enforcement.   
 

Indian Country

Indian Country is defined in 18 U.S.C. § 1151 to include reservations, trust lands, and restricted allotments.  The NDOK is unique in that eight full and one partial counties of the 11 counties within the district are a reservation. Fourteen federally recognized Indian tribes are headquartered in the NDOK.  The NDOK has concurrent jurisdiction with Indian tribes over crimes committed by Indians within Indian Country. The NDOK also has concurrent jurisdiction with the state over crimes committed by non-Indians against Indians.  Because of this extensive federal jurisdiction, the NDOK works closely to provide seamless criminal jurisdiction between the federal, state, and tribal governments. 

The NDOK regularly confers with tribal and state partners to determine the best venue for criminal prosecutions.  The NDOK has over 25 prosecutors dedicated to criminal matters in Indian Country.  This team prosecutes cases such as murder, rape, child sexual abuse, child abuse, domestic violence, robbery, burglary, assault, arson, and kidnapping. 
 

Project Safe Childhood (PSC)

The NDOK is committed to the safety and well-being of children and has placed a high priority on combating the sexual exploitation of minors. PSC’s goal is to reduce the incidence of sexual exploitation of children. Additionally, PSC focuses on building partnerships within the community, coordinating with and training law enforcement, enhancing public awareness, and accountability for offenders.

With the growth of technology and the dark web, child predators have access to children all over the world. AUSAs partner with federal, local, state, and tribal law enforcement to combat those seeking to obtain, create, and distribute material that contains sexually explicit acts with children. They also prosecute those seeking to entice and exploit children for sexual gratification. 
National PSC Web Site
 

Anti-Terrorism

The USAO for the NDOK Anti-Terrorism Task Force (ATAC) consists of federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies committed to terrorism prevention and disruption efforts. That task force has evolved to include a large group of key individuals and organizations whose interests are in defeating terrorism, protecting the District's critical infrastructure, and vigorously prosecuting those who have committed or intend to commit terrorist acts against the United States.

Dedicated AUSAs work with the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) and other law enforcement agencies to heighten awareness, disseminate information, and ultimately prevent terrorist-related activities in the Northern District of Oklahoma. This partnership seeks to quickly disseminate terrorism-related information to law enforcement officials and other groups on a "need-to-know" basis for the purpose of preventing potential or actual terrorist operations. 

White Collar Crime

The cases assigned to this team of AUSAs are generally frauds and embezzlements in businesses. They consist of a variety of schemes, large embezzlements, and false tax offenses. The team also partners with the civil division to handle environmental crimes and federal program frauds, such as Medicare/Medicaid fraud, health care fraud, and corporate fraud.