OKLAHOMA CITY – Today, BARRY CHRISTOPHER HUTTON, 51, formerly of Cushing, Oklahoma, was sentenced to serve 16 months in federal prison for illegal interstate transmission of threatening communications, announced United States Attorney Robert J. Troester.
Public records reflect that, on June 14, 2021, Hutton made multiple calls from out of state by cell phone to his estranged wife, her employer, her daughter, and the Cushing Police Department threatening to get an AR-15 and kill her, her family, and himself. Hutton sent a screenshot of a flight itinerary showing a flight landing in Tulsa that day. Hutton was arrested on June 24, 2021, in Idaho.
On July 6, 2021, a federal grand jury returned a two-count Indictment that alleged Hutton violated federal law with the interstate transmission of threatening communications and interstate stalking. Federal law prohibits a person from transmitting in interstate commerce a threat to injure another person as well as to travel in interstate commerce with the intent to kill, injure, harass, and intimidate another person. On January 27, 2022, Hutton plead guilty to count one of the Indictment.
On June 9, 2022, U.S. District Judge Patrick R. Wyrick sentenced Hutton to serve 16 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release when his prison term ends. In support of this sentence, Judge Wyrick cited the seriousness of making threats to get an AR-15 and kill people and the dangerousness of domestic violence. Hutton has remained in custody since his arrest on June 24, 2021.
This case is the result of investigations by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Cushing Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jacquelyn M. Hutzell prosecuted the case.
This case is part of “Operation 922,” the Western District of Oklahoma’s local implementation of the national Project Safe Neighborhoods initiatives to reduce gun violence and enforce federal firearms laws. “Operation 922” prioritizes prosecution of federal gun crimes connected to domestic violence.
Reference is made to public filings for more information.