Sejaryee Lee Bear, a 42-year-old resident of Okemah, Oklahoma, was sentenced on Apr. 23 to time served—totaling 147 days in prison—for one count of Accessory After the Fact—Murder in Indian Country. Bear will also serve two years of supervised release, according to the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma.
The case highlights federal efforts to address violent crime within tribal lands and demonstrates collaboration between local and federal agencies. The investigation involved the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Okemah Police Department, and Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation.
Bear pleaded guilty on August 12, 2025. Investigators said that on June 30, 2024, she assisted Michael Wayne Lambert after he shot and killed a victim at an apartment complex in Okemah. In the aftermath of the incident, Bear turned off her cell phone's location services, deleted location data as well as call records and messages. She also accompanied Lambert to Bearden River Bridge over the North Canadian River where Lambert disposed of the murder weapon later recovered by authorities.
A federal jury convicted Lambert on September 11, 2025. He was sentenced on April 2, 2026 to life imprisonment for Murder in Indian Country and received an additional ten years for Discharge of a Firearm During and in Relation to a Crime of Violence.
The crime took place within Okfuskee County inside Muscogee (Creek) Nation Reservation boundaries under federal jurisdiction. The Honorable Ronald A. White presided over sentencing proceedings at United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma.
The U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District advances community wellness through trust responsibilities with sovereign Tribal Nations according to its official website. The office operates facilities in Muskogee and functions under the United States Department of Justice according to its official website. It handles criminal investigations and prosecutions as well as civil litigation across twenty-six counties—including Adair and Atoka—and is noted as being entirely located within Indian country according to its official website.
