MUSKOGEE, Okla.: A member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation convicted of murder in state court and another convicted of sexually assaulting a child in cases at the center of a major U.S. Supreme Court ruling on tribal sovereignty are now facing felony charges in federal court, U.S. Attorney Brian Kuester announced on Monday.
A federal grand jury in Muskogee returned criminal indictments against Jimcy McGirt, 71, for three counts of aggravated sexual abuse, and Patrick Dwayne Murphy, 51, for murder and kidnapping. The FBI is the primary investigative agency in the two Native American men’s cases.
Both McGirt and Murphy have been in state prison since the 1990s but had challenged their sentences, arguing they should have been charged in federal, not state court. Those challenges ultimately made it to the U.S. Supreme…