Thomas Raymond Phillips, III, 36, of Fort Towson, Oklahoma, was sentenced to life in prison for First Degree Murder in Indian Country. Additionally, Phillips received a consecutive sentence of 120 months for one count of Use, Carry, Brandish, and Discharge of a Firearm During and In Relation to a Crime of Violence.
The charges were the result of an investigation conducted by the Choctaw County Sheriff’s Office, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
On October 25, 2023, a federal jury found Phillips guilty of the charges. The investigation revealed that on the night of December 19, 2020, Phillips fired multiple shots into a bar in Fort Towson after being ejected by management for instigating a fight.
.B.J. Youngblood, a -year-old bar patron, was killed by one of the bullets fired by Phillips.
The incident occurred in Choctaw County, within the Choctaw Nation Reservation, in the Eastern District of Oklahoma.
“The defendant’s malicious and senseless acts stole a life, and the defendant will spend his remaining days in prison paying the price justice demands for his crimes,” said United States Attorney Christopher J. Wilson. “I commend county, state, and federal law enforcement for their investigative work and the prosecuting attorneys for presenting the case and advocating for the victim.”
The sentencing was presided over by U.S. District Judge John F. Heil, III, in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma. Phillips will remain in custody of the U.S. Marshals Service until he is transported to a United States Bureau of Prisons facility to serve his non-paroleable sentence.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Dean Burris and T. Cameron McEwen represented the United States in the case.
