Seminole Resident Sentenced For Involuntary Manslaughter And Federal Drug And Firearms Crimes Publisher: U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Oklahoma Dateline: Muskogee, Oklahoma Date: 1 December 2023 Subjects: American Government , Crime

MUSKOGEE, OKLAHOMA – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma announced that Mr Lee Benton, a/k/a Mister Lee Benton, a/k/a Lee Benton, age 39, of Seminole, Oklahoma, was sentenced to a total of 144 months in prison for involuntary manslaughter and federal drug and firearms charges.

Benton was sentenced to 84 months imprisonment on one count of Involuntary Manslaughter, one count of Possession with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine, and one count of Felon in Possession of a Firearm.  Those sentences will be served concurrently.  Benton was also sentenced to a consecutive 60 months of imprisonment for one count of Possession of Firearm in Furtherance of Drug Trafficking Crime.

The charges arose from investigations by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, and the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office.

On February 18, 2022, Benton pleaded guilty to all four charges.  According to investigators, on November 24, 2020, while driving a pickup truck under the influence of methamphetamine, Benton failed to stop for a sedan signaling a left turn in the lane ahead.  Benton crashed into the back of the sedan.  The force of the impact propelled the sedan off the road, causing it to collide with a guardrail and overturn, killing a backseat passenger.  Benton admitted to OHP troopers that he had used methamphetamine prior to the collision, and consented to a blood draw that confirmed the presence of the drug in his system.  Troopers questioning Benton observed a pistol on the driver’s side floorboard and subsequently discovered 55 grams of methamphetamine intended for distribution in the vehicle.  At the plea hearing, Benton, already a convicted felon at the time of the accident, admitted he had the firearm with him in the truck for the express purpose of protecting his drug business, and that on the date of the collision he knew he was prohibited from gun possession due to his prior felony conviction.

The crimes occurred in Seminole County, within the boundaries of the Seminole Nation Reservation, in the Eastern District of Oklahoma.

The Honorable Timothy D. DeGiusti, U.S. District Chief Judge in the United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma, sitting by assignment, presided over the hearings in Muskogee.  Benton will remain in custody of the U.S. Marshal pending transportation to a designated United States Bureau of Prisons facility to serve a non-paroleable sentence of incarceration.

Updated December 20, 2023