Source: Office of United States Attorneys
MUSKOGEE, OKLAHOMA – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma announced that John Ray Collins Jr., age 49, and Tambara Lorene Collins, age 38, of Okmulgee, Oklahoma, appeared in United States District Court for sentencing.
John Ray Collins Jr. was sentenced to 240 months in prison for one count of Attempted Murder, and 360 months each on two counts of Child Abuse, and 360 months for one count of Child Neglect. The terms of imprisonment will run concurrently for a total of 30 years imprisonment, to be followed by a five year term of supervised release.
Tambara Lorene Collins, age 38, of Okmulgee, Oklahoma, was sentenced to 216 months in prison per count on two counts of Child Abuse, and 216 months in prison for one count of Child Neglect. The terms of imprisonment will run concurrently for a total of 18 years imprisonment, to be followed by a five year term of supervised release.
The charges arose from an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Okmulgee County Sheriff’s Office, and the Muscogee (Creek) Nation Lighthorse Police.
On November 17, 2023, a federal jury convicted John Collins at trial of all counts. On October 24, 2023, Tambara Collins entered a guilty plea to two counts of child abuse and one count of child neglect.
According to investigators, between January 1, 2023, and June 12, 2023, John and Tambara Collins repeatedly abused and failed to protect two children in their care. The children sustained bruising and abrasions to the face, ears, back, legs, and feet. In mid-June, John Collins escalated his abuse, beating one of the children with a pipe. The child was then denied food, water, medical care, and sanitary living conditions. The child suffered head lacerations, internal bleeding, a broken arm, broken fingers, and traumatic skeletal muscle deterioration before rescuers were able to remove the children from the Collins residence.
The crimes occurred in Okmulgee County, within the boundaries of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation Reservation, within the Eastern District of Oklahoma.
“The suffering these innocent children endured at the hands of two people who were supposed to love and care for them is horrific and unconscionable,” said FBI Oklahoma City Special Agent in Charge Doug Goodwater. “The FBI is proud to have been part of the investigative team that helped put John and Tambara Collins behind prison bars where they undoubtedly belong.”
“The defendants subjected children in their care to unthinkable abuse and neglect, and I am thankful for the collaborative work of county, tribal, and federal investigators and federal prosecutors in securing convictions and significant sentences in this case,” said United States Attorney Christopher J. Wilson.
The Honorable John F. Heil, III, U.S. District Judge in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, presided over the hearing. The defendants will remain in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service pending transportation to a designated United States Bureau of Prisons facility to serve a non-paroleable sentence of incarceration.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Caila M. Cleary and Sarah McAmis represented the United States.