Jimcy McGirt to be released from Oklahoma prison 4 years after pivotal Supreme Court ruling

The Oklahoma man at the center of a landmark U.S. Supreme Court case is expected be released from federal prison this month.

Jimcy McGirt, whose case affirmed the Muscogee Nation reservation still existed, has spent more than 26 years in prison for sexually abusing a child. The Supreme Court’s decision to overturn his conviction in 2020 set off years of debate over the growing recognition of tribal reservations in Oklahoma.

McGirt, 75, plans to live in rural Hughes County after he is freed, according to court filings. He must serve five years of probation, register as a sex offender and have no contact with his victim, who is now an adult.

A federal judge in Muskogee imposed the sentencing terms Thursday, sticking to the plea deal McGirt and his lawyers had worked out with prosecutors in December. The agreement also called for him to spend 30 years in prison for the crime of aggravated sexual abuse in Indian Country but gave him credit for the nearly three decades he had already served.

Federal prison officials have not said exactly when they plan to release McGirt or if they already have done so. A Bureau of Prisons website said Friday afternoon that McGirt was not in the agency’s custody. He was being held at the Muskogee County jail in Muskogee but was transferred out of that facility on Thursday, according to jail records read over the phone to The Oklahoman.

Richard O’Carroll, one of McGirt’s attorneys, said he did not know where his client was being held but expected him to be released within days. O’Carroll said one of McGirt’s brothers has pledged to help him after his release.

“I suspect he’ll live out his years, and he’ll be free, which is startling if you consider it,” O’Carroll said, referring to the dozens of petitions for post conviction relief that McGirt filed after he was first convicted in 1997.

“He never stopped trying to get out,” O’Carroll said.

McGirt decision transformed the criminal justice system in parts of Oklahoma

One of McGirt’s petitions — to the U.S. Supreme Court — transformed the criminal justice system in eastern Oklahoma. In a 5-4 decision, justices overturned McGirt’s conviction, ruling Oklahoma had no jurisdiction to prosecute him because he was a tribal citizen, and his alleged crimes had occurred on a tribal reservation.

The ruling has led to the recognition of nine tribal reservations in the eastern part of the state and upended the state’s ability to prosecute Native Americans accused of committing crimes in those areas. Federal and tribal courts now have jurisdiction over those cases.

Gov. Kevin Stitt, who has sharply criticized the Supreme Court ruling, said at his weekly news conference Friday that he was shocked to learn about McGirt’s pending release.

He said McGirt should still be in state prison, where he was originally sentenced to serve 1,000 years before the Supreme Court ruling.

“If McGirt gets out, Jimcy McGirt, we should all be saying shame on us,” Stitt said.

O’Carroll said he believed the governor’s remarks were based on anger and resentment over the impact of McGirt’s case.

“The governor doesn’t know what he’s talking about,” he said.

McGirt’s release will mark the end of years of uncertainty after the Supreme Court threw out his state court conviction in July 2020. He was quickly convicted again in federal court and sentenced to three life terms in prison.

But the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed his convictions in June 2023, ruling that a judge had made an error when he was instructing the jury.

Prosecutors initially vowed to retry McGirt but ultimately worked out the plea deal before the case went to trial. In a court filing, prosecutors said some evidence had disappeared and two witnesses had died. They also said a plea deal would allow the victim to finally have closure in a case that had greatly affected her life.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Jimcy McGirt at center of Supreme Court ruling to be released