Sallisaw Resident Sentenced for Arson in Indian Country
MUSKOGEE, OKLAHOMA – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma announced that Felicia Nicholl Bargar, age 35, of Sallisaw, Oklahoma, was sentenced to 36 months in prison and ordered to pay $7,500.00 in restitution for committing Arson in Indian Country.
The charges arose from investigations by the Sallisaw Police Department, the Oklahoma State Fire Marshal, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
On May 6, 2022, Bargar pleaded guilty to willfully and maliciously setting fire to and burning a dwelling. According to investigators, in October 2020, Bargar intentionally set fire to a trailer house she was renting after receiving an eviction notice.
“I am thankful for the cooperative investigative work of law enforcement which resulted in the defendant being brought to justice for her senseless and malicious acts," said United States Attorney Christopher J. Wilson.
The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma prosecuted this case because the defendant is a member of a federally recognized Indian tribe and the crimes occurred in Sequoyah County, within the boundaries of the Cherokee Nation Reservation and within the Eastern District of Oklahoma.
The Honorable Charles B. Goodwin, U.S. District Judge in the United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma, sitting by appointment, presided over the hearing in Oklahoma City. Bargar will remain in custody of the U.S. Marshal pending transportation to a designated United States Bureau of Prisons facility to serve a non-parolable sentence of incarceration.
Assistant United States Attorney Kevin Gross represented the United States.
