Billy James Menees, 30, and Ashley Dawn Marie Schardein, 28, both residents of McAlester, Oklahoma, have been sentenced to prison on charges of child abuse and neglect. This announcement was made by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma.
Menees received a sentence of 192 months for one count of child abuse in Indian Country and 192 months for one count of child neglect. The sentences will run concurrently. In a separate hearing, Schardein was sentenced to 240 months for each count, also to be served concurrently.
The investigation was carried out by the McAlester Police Department, the District Attorney’s Office for District 18, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The defendants were found guilty by a federal jury on February 23, 2023. According to investigators, authorities responded to a welfare call on May 9, 2020, at the residence of Menees and Schardein. They discovered a severely malnourished 10-year-old child in a room with no furnishings. Evidence showed that Menees and Schardein had isolated, confined, underfed, and physically abused the child from January 2019 over a period of 16 months.
The case was tried in Pittsburg County, within the Choctaw Nation Reservation boundaries, and the Eastern District of Oklahoma's jurisdiction. Doug Goodwater, FBI Oklahoma City Special Agent, stated, “There is no justification for the abuse endured by the child victim in this case. What makes this particularly disturbing, is the treatment was at the hands of the people responsible for the child’s well-being and safety."
District Attorney Chuck Sullivan praised the collaborative efforts, saying, “I am thankful for the tireless work of the McAlester Police Department, the OSBI, the FBI, and my investigators in rescuing an innocent child from unspeakable abuse and for the exceptional work of the Assistant U.S. Attorneys in obtaining justice for the victim.”
United States Attorney Christopher J. Wilson commented, “The defendants’ horrific acts of abuse and neglect are deserving of lengthy prison sentences." Chief U.S. District Judge Timothy D. DeGiusti presided over the hearings in Oklahoma City. Both Menees and Schardein remain in custody, awaiting transportation to a federal prison to serve their non-paroleable sentences.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Nicole Paladino and Caila Cleary represented the United States in this case.
