Joe David White, Joe David White, Laci Marie Fox, Drug Conspiracy, Methamphetamine Distribution, Oklahoma 2023

A pair of Poteau residents, including a former city councilman, have been sentenced for their roles in a methamphetamine distribution conspiracy.

Joe David White, 58, and Laci Marie Fox, 27, both of Poteau, Oklahoma, were handed down sentences of 151 months’ imprisonment and 70 months’ imprisonment, respectively, for their involvement in the drug conspiracy.

The investigation that led to the indictment and sentencing was conducted by the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics, District 16 District Attorney Narcotics Task Force, and Poteau Police Department.

The defendants had previously entered guilty pleas to an indictment alleging that they knowingly and intentionally conspired and agreed together, and with others known and unknown to the grand jury, to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute 50 grams or more of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine, a Schedule II controlled substance, beginning in 2015 and continuing until January 9, 2017, within the Eastern District of Oklahoma and elsewhere.

The indictment also alleged that on September 1, 2016, and December 15, 2016, the defendants knowingly distributed a mixture or substance containing methamphetamine.

“Methamphetamine dealers deliver tragedy to communities along with the poison they sell for profit,” said United States Attorney Brian J. Kuester. “The U.S. Attorney’s Office is proud to partner with state and local agencies, as we did here, to make a positive impact in Eastern Oklahoma by eliminating a distribution source.”

The Honorable Ronald A. White, U.S. District Judge in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, in Muskogee, presided over the hearing. First Assistant United States Attorney Christopher Wilson represented the United States.

The investigation and sentencing are a result of the ongoing efforts to combat methamphetamine distribution in Eastern Oklahoma.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma will continue to work with state and local agencies to make a positive impact in the region.