Nicholas Earl Faulkner, Kidnapping and Weapons Charges, Oklahoma 2019

Holdenville, Oklahoma resident Nicholas Earl Faulkner, 32, has been sentenced to 155 months in prison for his role in a 2017 homicide within Indian Country in Oklahoma. The sentence, which includes five years of supervised release, was handed down after Faulkner pleaded guilty to kidnapping and being a felon in possession of a firearm in May 2019.

According to court documents, Faulkner was living with co-defendant Matthew Armstrong, who was involved in smuggling contraband into various prisons and jails for the Indian Brotherhood (IBH), a prison-based Indian gang active in Oklahoma. On April 16, 2017, a dispute over drugs between Armstrong and the victim, who was staying at Armstrong’s residence, escalated into violence.

Armstrong and Faulkner took the victim into the woods behind the residence, where Armstrong tied her to a tree. Faulkner brought Armstrong the binding materials, at Armstrong’s direction. Faulkner and Armstrong left the victim tied to the tree for several hours and then returned with a rifle. Armstrong shot the victim twice, killing her. Faulkner then took the gun and left the area at the direction of Armstrong.

Faulkner and Armstrong later purchased concrete mix, returned to the murder scene, untied the victim’s body, dug a shallow grave, placed the body in the grave, and covered it with concrete and soil.

Nicholas Earl Faulkner, Real full name: Nicholas Earl Faulkner, Exact criminal charges: kidnapping and being a felon in possession of a firearm, City: Holdenville, State: Oklahoma, Exact date of crime: April 16, 2017, Sentence or outcome: 155 months in prison, plus five years of supervised release.

The FBI and the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation investigated the case, which was prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Rami Badawy and Brian Morgan of the Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Zack Parsons of the Eastern District of Oklahoma.

Co-defendant Matthew Armstrong pleaded guilty to murder in Indian country, kidnapping, and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine in October 2021 and faces a maximum penalty of life in prison.

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