Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

MUSKOGEE, OKLAHOMA – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma announced that Kenneth Lee Kelley, age 58, of Stilwell, Oklahoma, was sentenced to 70 months of imprisonment for one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, 70 months of imprisonment for one count of felon in possession of ammunition, and 60 months of imprisonment for one count of eluding a peace officer in Indian country. The sentences will run concurrently.

The charges arose from investigations by the Westville Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

On October 12, 2022, Kelley entered a guilty plea to the three counts. According to investigators, on April 2, 2022, while attempting to evade arrest on an outstanding warrant out of Adair County, Kelley led police officers on a high-speed chase, exceeding speeds of 70 miles per hour, and colliding with multiple police vehicles. Officers brought Kelley to a stop by deploying stop sticks and forcing him into a ditch. When officers arrested Kelley at the scene, they found him in possession of more than 300 grams of methamphetamine, over 90 rounds of ammunition, and a large sum of cash. The crimes occurred in Adair County, within the boundaries of the Cherokee 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 hearings in Muskogee. Kelley will remain in the 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 Attorneys Casey Richmond, Kevin Gross, and Ryan Bondura represented the United States.