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Press Release

Arson and Cell Phone Threats Land Del City Man in Federal Prison for 10 Years

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Western District of Oklahoma

OKLAHOMA CITY –  ALLEN JAMES BULLOCK, 43, of Del City, has been sentenced to serve 120 months in federal prison for interstate transmission of threatening communications and arson, announced U.S. Attorney Robert J. Troester.

On March 19, 2024, a federal grand jury returned a two-count Superseding Indictment against Bullock, charging him with interstate transmission of threatening communications and arson. On May 21, 2024, a federal jury found Bullock guilty on both counts.

Evidence presented at trial indicated that in the early morning hours of November 14, 2023, the Del City Fire Department extinguished a fire at a nearby apartment complex. The fire was contained to the entrance of the apartment and did not spread further. The tenant of the apartment was not home at the time and told authorities he believed Bullock may have started the fire. The victim worked with Bullock’s wife and claimed that just hours before the fire, Bullock called and threatened the victim several times because the victim gifted a shirt to Bullock’s wife. Cell phone records show that Bullock did call the victim multiple times the night of the fire, and an analysis of surveillance footage shows Bullock arriving at the victim’s apartment complex shortly before the fire was set. Surveillance footage also shows that Bullock visited a nearby gas station to purchase $.50 of gasoline minutes before the fire, and expert testimony at trial confirmed that debris samples from the fire tested positive for the presence of gasoline.

At the sentencing hearing on October 24, 2024, U.S. District Judge Jodi W. Dishman sentenced Bullock to serve 10 years in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release. In announcing the sentence, the Court noted the serious nature of these offenses, including issuing threatening communications and setting an apartment unit on fire. It further noted that both offenses involved victims and that the fire could have involved additional victims, which include other residents of the apartment complex, had the Del City Fire Department not intervened in a timely manner. The Court also noted that Bullock has some significant criminal history, including violent offenses.

This case is the result of an investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, and the Del City Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Stan J. West and Matt Dillon prosecuted the case.

Reference is made to public filings for additional information.      

Updated October 28, 2024