Sheldon J. Sperling, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, said McFarland was charged after an investigation by the Muskogee County Sheriff’s Department, the Sequoyah County Sheriff’s Department, the Fort Smith (Ark.) Police Department and the Federal bureau of Investigation.
Sperling said, “McFarland was indicted in February and pleaded guilty in March.”
“On March 5, 2008, Muskogee County Sheriff’s Department was notified that a stolen dozer may be located in Webbers Falls. Deputies located the dozer and were informed that it belonged to McFarland, who had been doing some work at that residence. Authorities also located a stolen skid loader with altered identification numbers that McFarland had sold to the property owner,” Sperling continued.
“Upon further investigation, it was determined that McFarland had stolen the dozer and the skid loader from locations in Fort Smith and delivered them to Oklahoma,” Sperling said.
District Court Judge Ronald A. White presided over the hearing. The defendant remains in the custody of the U.S. Marshal Service for transportation to the designated federal prison at which he will serve his non-parolable sentence.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Wilson represented the government in the case.
