Department of Justice
For Immediate Release
Pontotoc County Resident Sentenced to 19 Years for Assault and Explosives Offenses
MUSKOGEE, OKLAHOMA – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma announced that William Craig Hollars, age 44, of Pontotoc County, Oklahoma, was sentenced to 235 months in prison for a prolonged assault ending at the Chickasaw Nation Treasury Building in September of 2022.
Hollars was sentenced to 115 months in prison for one count of Assault with a Dangerous Weapon with Intent to do Bodily Harm in Indian Country, 115 months for one count of Assault of a Dating Partner in Indian Country, 115 months for one count of Attempt to Damage and Destroy by Explosive, and 115 months for one count of Making a Firearm in Violation of the National Firearms Act. These sentences are set to be served concurrently. Hollars was sentenced to an additional 120 months in prison for one count of Carrying an Explosive During the Commission of a Felony, to be served consecutive to the other sentences.
The charges arose from investigations by the Chickasaw Nation Lighthorse Police Department, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol Bomb Squad, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
On September 7, 2023, Hollars pleaded guilty to the charges. On September 6, 2022, Hollars strangled the victim, threatened her with a homemade bomb, chased her as she fled to the Chickasaw Nation Treasury Building, struck her in the back of the head, dragged her from the building as she sought shelter, then attempted to light the bomb, with intent to injure her and damage the Treasury Building.
The crimes occurred in Pontotoc County, within the boundaries of the Chickasaw Nation Reservation, in the Eastern District of Oklahoma.
The Honorable Ronald A. White, Chief Judge in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, presided over the hearing in Muskogee. Hollars will remain in custody of the U.S. Marshal pending transportation to a designated United States Bureau of Prisons facility to serve a non-paroleable sentence of incarceration.
Assistant United States Attorney Kevin Gross represented the United States.