The man responsible for changing the jurisdictional landscape of Oklahoma is headed back to prison.

The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma announced Thursday that Jimcy McGirt, age 77, was sentenced to 33 months in prison for one count of Failure to Register as Sex Offender, and 12 consecutive months in prison on the revocation of his supervised release for his May 2024 conviction of Aggravated Sexual Abuse of a Minor in Indian Country. The Court also imposed a lifetime term of supervised release.

The charge and revocation arose from an investigation by the United States Marshals Service, the Seminole Nation Lighthorse Police Department, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

On June 24, 2025, McGirt pleaded guilty to failing to register and update a registration under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (“SORNA”).

McGirt was booked into the Seminole County Jail on Saturday, Aug. 31, 2024 after being arrested by the Seminole Nation Lighthorse Police Department. McGirt was reportedly apprehended after two children told their parents that McGirt had approached them while they were playing at a local playground. Police were called to look into a possible kidnapping attempt and McGirt was found at a nearby home. McGirt, whose address was listed as Spaulding, Oklahoma on the sheriff’s website, failed to tell his federal parole officer that he was staying on the Seminole Nation reservation.

According to investigators, McGirt was discovered residing at an apartment located less than 2,000 feet from a playground despite having registered his residence in another county. Investigators also uncovered evidence that McGirt had been active on social media and the internet, a direct violation of the court-ordered terms and conditions of his supervised release imposed after his May 2024 conviction in federal district court for Aggravated Sexual Abuse of a Minor in Indian Country. McGirt, a registered sex offender, is required to notify local law enforcement of any changes of residence and is prohibited from residing within 2,000 feet of a playground or park.

“This sentence sends the clear message that sex-offender registry compliance is not optional and that orders of the Court are to be obeyed,” said United States Attorney Christopher J. Wilson. “These requirements exist to protect our communities, and the United States will aggressively prosecute individuals who violate their SORNA obligations and restrictions.”

McGirt, a member of the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, was sentenced in May 2024 to 360 months in prison for one count of Aggravated Sexual Abuse in Indian Country. However, under a plea agreement reached in December 2023, he was given credit for the 27 years he had already served and was released. The plea deal required him to serve five years of probation, register as a sex offender and have no contact with his victim from 1996, who is now an adult.

In 1997, McGirt was tried and convicted of First-Degree Rape by Instrumentation, Lewd Molestation, and Forcible Sodomy in the District Court of Wagoner County. While serving two 500-year sentences and a sentence of life without parole, McGirt challenged his conviction, arguing the crimes occurred in the Muscogee (Creek) Nation Reservation and Congress had never disestablished the reservation, therefore, the State of Oklahoma did not have jurisdiction to prosecute him.

On July 9, 2020, the United States Supreme Court agreed with McGirt and vacated his state convictions. The decision stated that much of eastern Oklahoma remains Native land and jurisdictional control for most criminal justice cases falls to the Muscogee (Creek) Nation and four neighboring tribal nations, including the Seminole Nation.

The Honorable John F. Heil, III, Chief Judge in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, presided over the latest hearing. McGirt 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 Sarah McAmis and Nicole Paladino represented the United States.