Wagoner Resident Sentenced For Felony Assault And Illegally Possessing Ammunition

MUSKOGEE, OKLAHOMA - The United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma announced that Kelly Justin Van Lewis, age 35, of Coweta, Oklahoma, was sentenced to 26 months in prison for one count of Assault with a Dangerous Weapon with Intent to do Bodily Harm in Indian Country, and to 26 months in prison for one count of Possession of Ammunition While Subject to Protective Order. The Court ordered the terms to be served concurrently.

The charges arose from an investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Coweta Police Department.

On August 21, 2025, Van Lewis pleaded guilty to the charges in federal district court. According to investigators, on April 30, 2024, Van Lewis threatened and pointed a firearm at the victim, then racked the slide of the firearm three times after an apparent malfunction. Law enforcement arrested Van Lewis the same day, and the victim obtained a protective order which included a prohibition against Van Lewis possessing firearms or ammunition. In June of 2025, ATF Special Agents executed a search warrant at Van Lewis' residence and seized 980 rounds of ammunition Van Lewis possessed in violation of his protective order.

The crimes occurred in Wagoner County, within the boundaries of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation Reservation, in the Eastern District of Oklahoma.

"The U.S. Attorney's Office is proud to join forces with the ATF and with all local, state, Tribal, and federal agencies to investigate and prosecute perpetrators who wrongfully use firearms to jeopardize the peace and safety of our communities," said U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Wilson.

"This conviction and federal sentence make clear that those who use firearms to threaten and terrorize intimate partners will be held fully accountable under the law," said ATF Dallas Field Division Special Agent in Charge Brian Garner. "ATF plays a critical role in enforcing the firearm prohibitions established under the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), working alongside federal, state, and Tribal partners to keep guns out of the hands of domestic abusers. This work is essential not only to protecting victims and preventing further violence, but also to upholding our trust responsibilities to our tribal partners by ensuring safer communities and respect for the rule of law."

The Honorable Ronald A. White, Senior Judge in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, presided over the hearing. Van Lewis will remain in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service pending transportation to a designated United States Bureau of Prisons facility to serve a non-paroleable sentence of incarceration.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Edith A. Singer represented the United States.