Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

MUSKOGEE, Okla. – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma announced that William Craig Hollars, age 44, of Pontotoc County, Oklahoma, entered a guilty plea to five charges relating to a prolonged assault that ended at the Chickasaw Nation Treasury Building in September of 2022.

The indictment filed on June 14, 2023, charged Hollars with one count of Assault with a Dangerous Weapon with Intent to do Bodily Harm in Indian Country, one count of Assault of a Dating Partner in Indian Country, one count of Attempt to Damage and Destroy by Explosive, one count of Making of a Firearm in Violation of the National Firearms Act, and one count of Carry Explosive During the Commission of a Felony.

The charges arose from an investigation by the Chickasaw Nation Lighthorse Police Department, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol Bomb Squad, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

At the plea hearing, Hollars admitted that on September 6, 2022, he 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 in order to injure her and cause damage to 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 D. Edward Snow, U.S. Magistrate Judge in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, accepted the plea, and ordered the completion of a presentence investigation report.  Hollars will remain in the custody of the U.S. Marshal pending sentencing.

Assistant United States Attorney Kevin Gross represented the United States.

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