 |
 |
|
|
|
||
U.S. Department of Justice DAVID E. O’MEILIA
110 West 7th Street, Suite 300 Tulsa, Oklahoma 74119-1013 (918) 382-2700 Fax (918) 560-7940
NEWS RELEASE
|
||
Man Gets Lengthy Prison Sentence for Soliciting Murder
Northern District of Oklahoma United States Attorney David E. O’Meilia and Federal Bureau of Investigation, Oklahoma City Division Special Agent in Charge Michael B. Ward, announced that a Tulsa man was sentenced in federal court today for soliciting murder.
Freeman David Chenoweth Jr., age 51, was sentenced to just over 18 years (220 months) imprisonment. He was charged by a Grand Jury last January with soliciting the murder of an FBI agent and other persons. He pled guilty on February 26, 2008, to Solicitation of Murder. The solicitation scheme was concocted between September and December 2007 while Chenoweth was being held in a local jail cell waiting trial and subsequent transport to a federal prison. He had been sentenced on December 6, 2007, to seven years for attempting to extort millions of dollars in July 2007 from Gary Gilliam, an area businessman and part owner of J&G Steel of Sapulpa, by making physical threats against Gilliam's family.
U.S. Attorney O'Meilia stated, "A priority interest in any criminal case is to protect the victims of crime, witnesses and the law enforcement officers that conduct the investigations. As prosecutors, we take any kind or any level of threat very seriously.”
Michael Ward, FBI Special Agent in Charge, added, “The FBI takes very seriously threats against witnesses and law enforcement personnel. This is especially true when one of our own is the subject of such threats, and we will devote any resources necessary to ensure the safety of our employees, as well as those who assist in our investigations. ”
The sentence Chenoweth received today will run consecutively to the seven years already imposed by the Court in the earlier extortion offense. U.S. District Judge Terence Kern presided. The government was represented in the matter by U.S. Attorney David O ’ Meilia. The case was investigated by the FBI.
####
|
|||
