MUSKOGEE, OKLAHOMA – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma announced that Choice Lynn Needham, age 46, of Quinton, Oklahoma entered a guilty plea to Laundering Monetary Instruments, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1956(a)(1)(A)(i) and (2), punishable by up to 20 years’ imprisonment, a fine up to $500,000.00 or twice the amount of the illicit transaction, whichever is greater, or both.
The Indictment alleged that on January 2, 2018, Needham transferred $1,200.00 in United States Currency via MoneyGram from a Walmart Store in McAlester, Oklahoma to another coconspirator in Palm Springs, California. Needham knew that the $1,200.00 was proceeds from the distribution of methamphetamine, and conducted the transaction with the intent to promote the continued distribution of methamphetamine.
The charges arose from a joint investigation led by the Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”), along with the Bureau of Indian Affairs (“BIA”), the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (“ATF”), the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”), the United States Postal Inspection Service (“USPIS”), the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics (“OBN”), the National Guard Counterdrug Task Force, the Haskell County Sheriff’s Office, the District 18 District Attorney’s Drug Task Force, the Seminole Nation Lighthorse Police, the Choctaw Nation Tribal Police, the Pittsburg County Sheriff’s Office, the McAlester Police Department, and the Stigler Police Department. The investigation was part of and include members of the DEA High Intensity Drug Trafficking (“HIDTA”) Task Force.
The Honorable John F. Heil, III, U.S. District Judge in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, in Muskogee, accepted the plea and ordered the completion of a presentence investigation report.
Special Assistant United States Attorney Christopher Schroeder and Assistant United States Attorney Ryan Conway represented the United States.