Anne Marie Johnson, Manslaughter Cover-Up, Oklahoma 2016

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma – A Shawnee woman was sentenced to 14 months in federal prison for her role in covering up a manslaughter on Indian land, announced Mark A. Yancey, United States Attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma.

Anne Marie Johnson, 38, of Shawnee, Oklahoma, was sentenced yesterday by United States District Court Judge Vicki Miles-LaGrange to serve 14 months in federal prison for misprision of a felony. Johnson pleaded guilty to the charge on September 13, 2016, for her failure to report the crime to law enforcement.

The case involves the manslaughter of Marshall Scott Dent, who was killed on December 23, 2013, on Sac and Fox Nation land near Shawnee, Oklahoma. George Edmond Walker, 39, of Shawnee, and Dent met on the night of the altercation, which resulted in Walker killing Dent. Walker buried Dent’s body on Sac and Fox land, where Johnson lived, in an attempt to hide the crime.

Walker later dug up the body and moved it to another parcel of Sac and Fox land near Meeker, Oklahoma, where he buried it again. During the investigation, law enforcement obtained information on the location of the body, which was later recovered by the FBI’s evidence response team.

Johnson was sentenced to serve 14 months in federal prison, to be followed by 12 months of supervised release. On August 22, 2016, Walker pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and unlawful removal of a dead body. Walker was later sentenced to serve 240 months in federal prison, consecutive to a 40-year sentence he is currently serving for his conviction of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon in Pottawatomie County.

The case was investigated by the Sac and Fox Nation Police Department, Shawnee Police Department, Pottawatomie County Sheriff’s Office, Pottawatomie County District Attorney’s Office, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Arvo Q. Mikkanen, Ashley Altshuler, and Lori Hines.

Johnson’s prison sentence is a result of her failure to report the crime to law enforcement, demonstrating the importance of community cooperation in solving crimes. The case serves as a reminder of the consequences of covering up a crime, and the need for individuals to report suspicious activity to ensure justice is served.

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