TULSA, OK (KOKH) — Last week, two Tulsa men were sentenced to federal prison for tampering with witnesses set to testify in federal court proceedings.
According to U.S. Attorney Clint Johnson, on October 25, U.S. District Judge Raul M. Arias-Marxuach sentenced 33-year-old Derius Donovan Ledet to 84 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release.
The following day, Judge Arias-Marxuach sentenced Ledet’s co-defendant, 35-year-old Ulysses Semion Washington to 108 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release.
“The integrity of our justice system is of the utmost importance. The U.S. Attorney’s Office will not tolerate any act that seeks to obstruct the federal court process,” said U.S. Attorney Clint Johnson.
According to court documents, on March 23, 2022, Ledet, who was being held on federal charges, called Washington several times. Ledet instructed Washington to “put in some footwork” to prevent two witnesses from communicating with law enforcement about the case and to prevent their testimony in court proceedings. Ledet further told Washington to pay off the witnesses with money obtained from selling one of Ledet’s cars.
It is also reported that Washington offered the witnesses money to write affidavits that they would not cooperate in Ledet’s pending case. Both witnesses were subpoenaed to appear in federal proceedings, but neither showed.
Ledet pled guilty to his role in the witness tampering in July of 2022, and Washington elected to proceed to trial. Before trial, Washington continued his attempts to contact one of the witnesses in an attempt to persuade them to not show. Washington entered a plea to witness tampering on the first day of trial.
Ledet and Washington will remain in custody before being transferred to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility.
For more local news delivered straight to your inbox sign up for our daily newsletter by clicking here.
This post was originally published on this site be sure to check out more of their content.
