Muskogee Residents Sentenced For Child Neglect

MUSKOGEE, OKLAHOMA - The United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma announced that Andrew Allen Maher, age 33, and Azalee Louellen Maher, age 28, both of Muskogee, Oklahoma, were sentenced to five years supervised release for child neglect in Indian country.

The charges arose from an investigation by the Muskogee Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

On April 15, 2024, Andrew Maher and Azalee Maher each pleaded guilty to one count of Child Neglect in Indian Country. According to investigators, on August 18, 2023, Muskogee officers responding to reports of an accidental firearm discharge at a Muskogee residence discovered a two-year old child with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the lower abdomen. EMS workers successfully resuscitated and stabilized the child, who was transported for life-saving surgery. As part of the plea, both defendants admitted failing to provide adequate supervision to the child in their care, resulting in the child accessing a firearm.

The crime occurred in Muskogee County, within the boundaries of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation Reservation, in the Eastern District of Oklahoma.

The Honorable Ronald A. White, U.S. Chief District Judge in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, presided over the hearings.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessie Pippin represented the United States.