McAlester Resident Sentenced To 37 Years For Murder

MUSKOGEE, OKLAHOMA - The United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma announced that Darius Alexander Presley, age 23, of McAlester, Oklahoma, was sentenced to thirty-seven years and three months in prison for a 2022 murder and attempted murder in Pittsburg County.

Presley was sentenced to 327 months for one count of Murder in Indian Country - Second Degree, 240 months for one count of Assault with Intent to Commit Murder in Indian Country, and 180 months for one count of Felon in Possession of a Firearm, with the terms of imprisonment set to be served concurrently. In addition, the Court sentenced Presley to a term of 120 months for one count of Using, Carrying, Brandishing, and Discharging a Firearm During and in Relation to a Crime of Violence, to be served consecutive to the other sentences, for a total sentence of 447 months.

The charges arose from an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, the Pittsburg County Sheriff's Office, and the Choctaw Nation Lighthorse Police and SWAT Team.

On September 13, 2023, Presley pleaded guilty to the charges. According to investigators, on December 2, 2022, Presley entered a home north of McAlester armed with a handgun. Once inside the residence, Presley shot two individuals, killing one and seriously wounding the other. Presley then fled the scene of the crime. A multi-agency search for Presley narrowed to a McAlester residence, where law enforcement discovered Presley barricaded inside. A Choctaw Nation Lighthorse Police SWAT team apprehended Presley without further incident. The crimes occurred in Pittsburg County, within the boundaries of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma Reservation, in the Eastern District of Oklahoma.

"This sentencing is the result of a multi-agency effort to bring a violent offender to justice," said FBI Oklahoma City Special Agent in Charge Doug Goodwater. "We hope the community feels safer knowing Mr. Presley will spend decades behind bars for his crimes."

"The defendant's vicious acts stole one innocent life and shattered the lives of many others," said United States Attorney Christopher J. Wilson. "I know there is nothing the criminal justice system can offer to undo the tragedy or remove the heartache, but the sentence imposed will ensure the defendant will be in prison for a very long time for his senseless crimes. I commend the bravery and rapid response of law enforcement teams on the ground who capably ended the crisis, and I am grateful for the diligence of investigators and prosecutors whose teamwork led to the successful conviction of the defendant."

The Honorable Keith Starrett, Senior U.S. District Judge in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi, sitting by assignment, presided over the hearing in Muskogee. Presley will remain in the 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 Attorney Jordan Howanitz represented the United States.