The charge arose from an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Muskogee Police Department.
On March 21, 2024, Ballard pleaded guilty to the charge. According to investigators, on April 4, 2023, Ballard assaulted the victim, strangling the victim and causing injuries to the victim’s face, head, wrist, and stomach. The crime occurred in Muskogee County, within the boundaries of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation Reservation, in the Eastern District of Oklahoma.
The Honorable John F. Heil, III, U.S. District Judge in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, presided over the hearing. Ballard 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 Patrick M. Flanigan and Edith Singer represented the United States.