U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Wilson | U.S. Department of Justice
Aaron Welch Earley, a resident of Stilwell, Oklahoma, has been sentenced to 24 months in prison for committing arson in Indian Country. The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma confirmed that Earley will also be required to pay restitution amounting to $130,268.91.
The conviction follows an investigation by the Adair County Sheriff’s Office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Earley had pleaded guilty on March 28, 2024, after being charged with setting fire to a residence in Westville, Oklahoma on March 14, 2023. Investigators reported that Earley set the fire willfully and maliciously for financial gain, resulting in a total loss exceeding $100,000.
The incident took place within Adair County on the Cherokee Nation Reservation, which is located in the Eastern District of Oklahoma. Chief U.S. District Judge Ronald A. White presided over the hearing at the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma. Until he is transported to a designated facility by the United States Bureau of Prisons to serve his non-paroleable sentence, Earley will remain under the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Gross.
