MUSKOGEE, OKLAHOMA – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, announced today that George McEntire Smith, age 22, of Wagoner, Oklahoma was found guilty by a federal jury of one count of Murder in the First Degree in Indian Country and one count of Causing the Death of a Person by Use of a Firearm During and in Relation to a Crime of Violence.
The jury trial began with testimony on Monday, August 1, 2022, and concluded on Friday, August 5, 2022, with the guilty verdicts. Based on the verdicts, the defendant is facing a mandatory minimum sentence of life imprisonment.
During the trial, the United States presented evidence that on April 8, 2021, a 69-year-old male was shot and killed inside his residence in Wagoner. The physical evidence indicated that the victim was shot twice in the back of the head, at a relatively close distance, with a .25-caliber firearm. The Defendant told responding officers that he was with the victim when unknown intruders entered the residence, shot the victim, then fled. Subsequent investigation revealed that the Defendant was in possession of a .25-caliber firearm several hours before the victim was killed and that Defendant’s account of how the killing occurred was inconsistent with the physical evidence at the scene.
The guilty verdicts were the result of an investigation by the Wagoner Police Department, the Muscogee (Creek) Nation Lighthorse Police, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma prosecuted the case because the Defendant in this case is a member of a federally recognized Indian tribe and the crimes occurred within the boundaries of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation Reservation.
The Honorable Timothy D. DeGiusti, U.S. Chief District Judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma, in Oklahoma City, presided over the trial and ordered the completion of a presentence report. The sentencing will be scheduled following completion of the report and the Defendant will remain in custody of the United States Marshal until then.
Assistant United States Attorneys James Montoya and Casey Richmond represented the United States.