TULSA, Okla. – A man who kidnapped and assaulted his ex-wife in April 2017 was sentenced today in federal court, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Clint Johnson.
U.S. District Judge Claire V. Eagan sentenced Randy Alan Hamett, 64, of Choctaw, to a total of 396 months in federal prison followed by five years of supervised release. She further ordered the defendant to pay $4,075 to the victim for medical costs incurred.
Judge Eagan called the crimes “harrowing and terrifying” and denied Hamett’s request for downward departure from the advisory sentencing guidelines range. She recommended the defendant be remanded to a maximum security facility and that the defendant’s out-going mail be monitored.
On April 21, 2021, a federal jury convicted Hamett on 12 counts including: kidnapping in Indian Country; carjacking; possessing and receiving a stolen firearm and stolen ammunition; possession of a firearm while subject to a domestic violence protective order; burglary in the second degree in Indian Country; assaults with a dangerous weapons (2 counts) in Indian Country; domestic violence in Indian Country; interstate violation of a protective Order (2 counts); carrying, using, and brandishing firearms during and in relation to a crime of violence (2 counts).
On April 25, 2017, Hamett parked his truck at a nearby Wal-Mart, walked to the victim’s home, and cut a hole in an outside wall to gain entry. When she returned home, Hamett tased her, pointed his own revolver at her, and bound her hands and feet. Hamett then forced the victim into a car, stole a revolver she had purchased after obtaining a protective order against him, then kidnapped her and sexually assaulted her. During the two-day ordeal, Hamett threatened to kill himself, the victim, and anyone who tried to help her.
Convinced that Hamett was going to kill her, the victim made every effort to prolong the trip and gain the defendant’s trust. She convinced Hamett they should get back together and remarry in Arkansas. The defendant eventually allowed her to text her parents and her boyfriend so they would not become suspicious concerning her whereabouts. Based on the nature of the text, the victim’s parents became worried that she was in danger and contacted the Broken Arrow Police Department. Through a concerted investigation by the Broken Arrow and Siloam Springs Police Departments, officers were able to locate Hamett and the victim at a hotel in Siloam Springs, Arkansas, where they determined Hamett was holding the victim against her will. When arrested, officers found Hamett in possession of a firearm and ammunition, along with Taser cartridges. Officers also discovered a murder preparation list in his pocket that included the words: taser, rope, zip ties, machete, and shovel.
In 2018, Hamett was convicted in federal court for the kidnapping, but he appealed the conviction. In June 2020, the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed his conviction and ordered a new trial. In a 2-1 decision, the appellate court found that the trial judge had “erred in finding that Mr. Hamett knowingly and intelligently waived his right to counsel” at his 2018 trial.
Following his successful appeal, the U.S. Attorney’s Office charged Hamett in a superseding indictment in September 2020, several months after the Supreme Court’s ruling that recognized the Creek Nation reservation remained intact. Because Hamett is Cherokee and he committed his crimes within the Muscogee (Creek) Nation reservation, federal prosecutors were further able to charge Hamett with Indian Country crimes, which they were previously unable to charge in 2018.
In 2018, the defendant was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison. Today, he was sentenced to 33 years in prison due, in part, to the additional Indian Country convictions at trial.
This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Broken Arrow Police and Siloam Springs Police Departments, and the Rogers State University Police. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jeffrey Gallant and Devon Lash prosecuted the case.
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