Oklahoma News Briefs:

Published: November 27, 2008

MUSKOGEE

WANTED SOLDIER IS ARRESTED

A U.S. Army soldier wanted in a murder-for-hire plot in Oklahoma has been arrested in San Francisco after arriving on a flight from South Korea where he was deployed. U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers say 26-year-old Michael Crawford was arrested Tuesday at San Francisco International Airport. Crawford is charged with conspiracy in federal court in Muskogee, accused of plotting with two women to have his wife killed. Prosecutors say Crawford and Tonia Mullins, 32, of Ada discussed killing his wife to collect a $250,000 life insurance policy and get married.

Heist leads to 11-year term

A Wagoner man was sentenced Wednesday in federal court in Muskogee to 11 years in prison for robbing a local bank in January. Manuelito Ramon Osborne, 35, received a sentence above that recommended by federal sentencing guidelines after prosecutors pointed out he led police on a high speed chase after the Jan. 16 robbery of Arvest Bank in Wagoner with a pellet gun, U.S. Attorney Sheldon Sperling said. He said Osborne sped through a residential area and crowded parking lot before he was arrested after police shot out his rear tires.

SEX OFFENDER GETS TWO YEARS

A Bryan County man was sentenced Wednesday to two years in prison for failing to register as a sex offender. Dustin Kyle Bentley was convicted of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct in Minnesota in 2007, but did not register with authorities when he moved to Oklahoma, according to federal prosecutors in Muskogee. Bentley, 24, pleaded guilty in July to failure to register as a sex offender as required by federal law.

TULSA

MAN KILLED CROSSING ROAD

A man hit by a car while he carried groceries across a northeast Tulsa highway died Tuesday, authorities said. The victim’s name was not released. A Honda Civic hit the man on westbound Interstate 244 near Memorial Drive about 10 p.m., the Oklahoma Highway Patrol reported. The car’s driver, the only person in the vehicle, was not hurt. Her name has not been released by authorities.

TAHLEQUAH

MAN ARRESTED IN STRANGLING

A Muskogee man was charged Tuesday in Cherokee County with second-degree murder, accused of choking a Tahlequah man to death. Bryan Keith Luethje, 36, was held in lieu of $250,000 bail, Tahlequah police said. Luethje went to police Monday and said he thought Jesse Nofire was dead, Robertson said. Officers went to the area Luethje described and found Nofire’s body.

ATOKA

CITY CONSIDERS HORSE BAN

The possibility of prohibiting the riding of horses on roadways and sidewalks within the Atoka city limits is scheduled for public discussion at Monday’s regular meeting of the Atoka City Council.

SAND SPRINGS

MAN EXPOSES SELF IN STORE

Police in Sand Springs are looking for a man who exposed himself to a 12-year-old girl inside the Sand Springs Walmart. The girl told police she walked into the men’s department last Thursday where the man said "Hi” then exposed himself. The girl told her mother who notified store employees. The man was not found but he is seen in surveillance video and is white, 30- to 40-years-old, about 5-foot-11 and 190 pounds. He left the store driving a red or burgundy vehicle.

LAWTON

MAN SENTENCED IN SON’S DEATH

A Lawton man charged in the 2007 death of his infant son has been sentenced to four years in prison. Eugene Haith, 31, was sentenced after he entered an Alford plea to one count of second-degree manslaughter. An Alford plea is not an admission of guilt but a concession that prosecutors have enough evidence for a conviction. Records show Haith’s 7-month-old son Francisco was taken to a local hospital Sept. 9, 2007. He was found to have severe internal bleeding and later died at a hospital.

FREDERICK

BLAZES BLAMED ON FIREFIGHTER

A Comanche County volunteer firefighter has been charged with setting a string of wildfires that have burned hundreds of acres in eastern Tillman County since February. Prosecutors in Tillman County charged Edward Trent Schrick, 20, with six counts of third-degree arson. Schrick is a resident of Chattanooga and volunteered for the fire department in Manitou. The fires started in February, less than a month after Schrick began working for the Manitou department, said Tillman County Sheriff Bobby Whittington.

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