Jeremy Keith Reece, Second-Degree Murder, OK 2015

A man who executed a brutal 2015 killing in the heart of Osage Nation Indian Country has been locked away for decades. Jeremy Keith Reece, 36, was sentenced today to 45 years in federal prison for the second-degree murder of Rick Holt, a crime marked by cold calculation and violence.

Chief U.S. District Judge John E. Dowdell handed down the sentence in Tulsa, Oklahoma, ensuring Reece will spend the bulk of his life behind bars. Following his prison term, he will serve an additional five years on supervised release. At the hearing, U.S. Attorney Trent Shores declared, “Justice was served today in the form of a 45 year federal prison sentence. I pray it brings some measure of peace to Rick Holt’s surviving family and friends.”

On February 6, 2020, Reece, a member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, pleaded guilty to the murder. He admitted in court to abducting Holt from his residence, driving him to Osage Nation Indian Country, and shooting him three times. Afterward, Reece dug a shallow grave, placed Holt’s body inside, and set it on fire in a gruesome attempt to destroy evidence.

The case had been bogged down for years by jurisdictional chaos. Originally filed in state court, it stalled in 2017 when a district court ruled Oklahoma lacked authority to prosecute crimes in Indian Country. The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals put the case on hold until federal jurisdiction could be confirmed—a legal wrangle that delayed justice for years but ultimately led to federal prosecution.

Reece will remain in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service until he is transferred to a facility operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons. His guilty plea spared a trial but did not diminish the severity of the punishment handed down for a crime that shocked both local and tribal communities.

The prosecution was a joint effort between the Osage County District Attorney and the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The investigation involved multiple agencies: the Osage County Sheriff’s Office, Pawhuska Police Department, Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, Osage Nation Police Department, and the FBI. U.S. Attorney Shores vowed, “Our pursuit of justice for Rick Holt does not end today. We won’t rest until all those responsible for this heinous murder are held accountable.”