Muskogee Man Pleads Guilty To Failure To Register As Sex Offender

MUSKOGEE, OKLAHOMA – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma announced that Yarnell Qudellious Payne, age 36, of Muskogee, Oklahoma entered a guilty plea to Failure To Register As Sex Offender, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 2250(a)(1), 2250(a)(2)(B) and 2250(a)(3), punishable by not more than 10 years imprisonment, a fine up to $250,000.00 or both.

The Indictment alleged that from in or about November 2018, the exact date being unknown to the Grand Jury, until on or about January 29, 2019, in the Eastern District of Oklahoma, and elsewhere, the defendant, an individual required to register as a sex offender under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act, after having received felony convictions from the State of Nebraska, in Lancaster County, on or about January 4, 2017, for Sexual Assault of a Child, Third Degree, traveled in interstate and foreign commerce and knowingly failed to register and update his registration as required by the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act. 

The charges arose from an investigation by the he United States Marshals Service. 

The Honorable Kimberly E. West, U.S. Magistrate Judge in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, in Muskogee, accepted the plea and ordered the completion of a presentence investigation report.

Assistant United States Attorney Nalani Ching represented the United States at the change of plea hearing.