MUSKOGEE, OKLAHOMA - The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma announced today that ASHLEY NOEL STEELE, age 30, of Tahlequah, Oklahoma, pled guilty to DRUG CONSPIRACY, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Sections 846, 841(a)(1), and 841(b)(1)(B).
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 Information alleged that on or about Dec. 12, 2015, within the Eastern District of Oklahoma, the defendant, ASHLEY NOEL STEELE, did knowingly and intentionally conspire, confederate and agree with others known and unknown to commit offenses against the United States in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Section 846, as follows: to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute 50 grams or more of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine, a Schedule II controlled substance.
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 less than 5 years or more than 40 years imprisonment, up to a $5,000,000 fine or both.
Assistant United States Attorney Christopher Wilson represented the United States.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
