Source: Office of United States Attorneys
MUSKOGEE, OKLAHOMA – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma announced that Jerry Wayne Asbill, age 42, of Adair County, Oklahoma, was sentenced to two terms of life imprisonment for two counts of Aggravated Sexual Abuse in Indian Country. The terms will be served concurrently.
The charges arose from investigations by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Adair County Sheriff’s Office.
On May 10, 2023, a federal jury convicted Asbill on two counts of Aggravated Sexual Abuse. At trial, the Government presented evidence that in November of 2018, Asbill sexually assaulted a child he knew to be under the age of 12. The crimes occurred in Adair County, on the Cherokee Nation Reservation, in the Eastern District of Oklahoma.
“Mr. Asbill’s crimes were abhorrent and morally reprehensible,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Jason Kaplan of the FBI Oklahoma City Field Office. “Thanks to the bravery of the victim who came forward, and the tenacity of the investigators and the prosecution team, we were able to achieve some measure of justice in this case. The FBI and our law enforcement partners will never waver in our commitment to protecting the most vulnerable members of our population – our children.”
“The despicable crimes perpetrated upon this child warrant the life sentences imposed by the Court,” said United States Attorney Christopher J. Wilson. “Violent crime in Indian country remains a priority of the United States Attorney’s Office, and through continued cooperative efforts of our local, state, Tribal, and federal law enforcement partners, we are committed to seeking justice for victims and holding offenders like Asbill accountable.”
The Honorable Kea W. Riggs, U.S. District Judge in the United States District Court for New Mexico, sitting by assignment, presided over the hearing in Muskogee. Asbill will remain in custody of the U.S. Marshal pending transportation to a designated United States Bureau of Prisons facility to serve a non-paroleable sentence of incarceration.
Assistant United States Attorneys Morgan Muzljakovich and Nicole Paladino represented the United States.