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For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of Mississippi
JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI – Three tribal members were sentenced for their respective roles in a murder, which occurred in September of 2023, in the Pearl River Community of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians Reservation.
According to court documents, Michael Jeffrey Shaffer, Sr., 48, and Montero Ray Willis, 22, were both sentenced to prison for Murder in the Second Degree. Shaffer was sentenced to 262 months, and Montero was sentenced 151 months. Deyonkia Alice Willis, 32, was sentenced to 60 months for the crime of Accessory After the Fact. All three were previously indicted by a federal grand jury in November of 2023 and previously plead guilty.
Acting U.S. Attorney Patrick A. Lemon and Acting Special Agent in Charge Robert A. Eikhoff of the Federal Bureau of Investigation made the announcement.
The Choctaw Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation investigated the case as part of the Project Safe Neighborhood’s Tribal Initiative.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kevin J. Payne and Brian K. Burns prosecuted the case.
Project Safe Neighborhood’s Tribal Initiative refers to the inclusion of tribal law enforcement officials and community leaders within the Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) program, a national initiative by the U.S. Department of Justice that aims to identify and address the most pressing violent crime issues in a community by bringing together federal, state, local, tribal law enforcement, prosecutors, and community partners to develop comprehensive solutions; essentially, it signifies the program’s efforts to actively involve tribal entities in combating crime within their jurisdictions.
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