Tahlequah Resident Sentenced For Federal Firearm Crime

MUSKOGEE, OKLAHOMA - The United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma announced that Heath Tyler Bryan, age 34, of Tahlequah, Oklahoma, was sentenced to 92 months in prison for one count of illegally possessing a firearm and ammunition.

The charge arose from an investigation by the Oklahoma Highway Patrol and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

On May 15, 2024, Bryan pleaded guilty to one count of Felon in Possession of Firearm and Ammunition. According to investigators, on January 1, 2024, troopers discovered Bryan in possession of a loaded .38 special revolver and one round of ammunition. Bryan possessed the firearm and ammunition despite knowing that he had been previously convicted of a crime punishable by a term of imprisonment exceeding one year.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.

The Honorable Ronald A. White, Chief U.S. District Judge in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, presided over the hearing. Bryan 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 Edith Singer and Rachel Geizura represented the United States.