The United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma has announced that Andrew Allen Maher, 33, and Azalee Louellen Maher, 28, both residents of Muskogee, Oklahoma, have been sentenced to five years of supervised release for child neglect in Indian Country.
The charges were the result of an investigation conducted by the Muskogee Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. On April 15, 2024, both Andrew and Azalee Maher pleaded guilty to one count each of Child Neglect in Indian Country. The incident leading to these charges occurred on August 18, 2023. Muskogee officers responded to reports of an accidental firearm discharge at a residence where they found a two-year-old child with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the lower abdomen. Emergency medical services resuscitated and stabilized the child before transporting them for life-saving surgery.
As part of their plea agreement, both defendants admitted that they failed to provide adequate supervision to the child in their care, which allowed the child access to a firearm.
This crime took place in Muskogee County within the boundaries of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation Reservation in the Eastern District of Oklahoma. The Honorable Ronald A. White presided over the hearings as U.S. Chief District Judge in the United States District Court for this district.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessie Pippin represented the United States in this case.