The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma announced Wednesday that five Oklahomans, including a Hughes County man, were sentenced for their roles in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine in violation of federal law.

The leader of the drug trafficking organization, Christopher Adam Banschbach, age 39, of Holdenville, was sentenced to 360 months in prison for one count of Drug Conspiracy on February 22, 2024. Banschbach’s four co-defendants each pleaded guilty to one count of drug conspiracy and one count of possession with intent to distribute and were sentenced at hearings held between July 11, 2024, and May 22, 2025.

• Ricky Edward Hall, age 30, of Covington, Oklahoma, was sentenced to 324 months for each count, to be served concurrently.

• Joshua Levi Kendrick, age 43, of Muskogee, Oklahoma, was sentenced to 235 months for each count, to be served concurrently.

• Brittany Marie Cagle, age 35, of Wagoner, Oklahoma, was sentenced to 168 months for each count, to be served concurrently.

• Christina Gail Pool, age 43, of Muskogee, Oklahoma, was sentenced to 46 months for each count, to be served concurrently.

According to investigators, between March 2022 and November 2022, while serving time on state charges at the Davis Correctional Facility in Holdenville, Banschbach coordinated and directed the distribution of approximately forty-five kilograms of methamphetamine. Non-incarcerated members of the conspiracy obtained the methamphetamine from various locations and distributed it in Muskogee and other locations.

The charges arose from an investigation led by the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics, with assistance from the Muskogee Police Department and the Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office.

The Honorable Eric F. Melgren, Chief U.S. District Judge in the United States District Court for the District of Kansas, sitting by desig-

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(Continued from Page 1) nation, the Honorable Keith Starrett, Senior U.S. District Judge in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi, sitting by designation, and the Honorable William P. Johnson, Senior U.S. District Judge for the District of New Mexico, sitting by designation, presided over the hearings. All defendants are in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service pending transportation to a designated United States Bureau of Prisons facility to serve non-paroleable sentences of incarceration.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Erin Cornell represented the United States.