Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

MUSKOGEE, Okla. – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma announced that Justin Kyle Muskrat, age 37, of Bunch, Oklahoma, entered a guilty plea to kidnapping and illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition.

The indictment filed on April 13, 2023, charged Muskrat with one count of Kidnapping in Indian Country and one count of Felon in Possession of Firearm and Ammunition.

The charges arose from an investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Adair County Sheriff’s Office, and the Cherokee Nation Marshal Service.

According to investigators, Muskrat kidnapped an individual from a Muskogee County residence on March 15, 2023. Armed with a machete, Muskrat forced the victim into a car trunk and transported him to an Adair County residence. There, Muskrat bound, assaulted, and threatened the victim. Upon arrest, law enforcement officers found Muskrat, a felon, illegally in possession of a Ruger, Model LCP, .380ACP caliber, semi-automatic pistol and several rounds of ammunition.

The crimes occurred in Adair County, Oklahoma, within the boundaries of the Cherokee Nation Reservation, in the Eastern District of Oklahoma.

The Honorable Gerald L. Jackson, U.S. Magistrate Judge in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, accepted the plea and ordered the completion of a presentence investigation report. Muskrat will remain in custody of the U.S. Marshall pending sentencing.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys T. Cameron McEwen and Josh Satter represented the United States.

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