Wilburton couple receive federal prison sentences
Mar. 28—A Latimer County couple federally indicted as part of a $500 murder for hire plot were sentenced to federal prison this week.
Dustin Keith Deatherage, 27, and Courtney Nicole Deatherage, 28, of Wilburton, were each indicted in the Eastern District of Oklahoma with use of interstate facility in murder-for-hire.
The couple was originally charged in January 2021 with a state charge of solicitation for murder in the first degree in Latimer County District Court prior to the charge being dismissed due to their Native American status and the 2020 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in McGirt.
Court records show the couple was sentenced Wednesday with Courtney Deatherage sentenced to 10 years in prison and Dustin Deatherage sentenced to eight years in prison along with three years of supervision following their release.
Along with their sentences, both are ordered to complete a narcotic/drug treatment program and a mental health treatment program.
The judge recommend the couple to be placed in a prison as close Wilburton as possible to facilitate family contact.
According to a probable cause affidavit, Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation agents spoke with a man who travelled from Texas who said Courtney Deatherage wanted him to kill her ex-husband for a total of $500.
The man said he agreed to do it for $250 upfront and $250 afterward with Courtney Deatherage agreeing to provide the gun, court documents state.
He also told investigators that the woman told him to get her ex-husband's photo and place of employment from his social media account, the affidavit states.
Court documents state the man told investigators he met with Dustin and Courtney Deatherage on Jan. 22 at the City Lake in Wilburton and received a loaded 12-gauge shotgun and a $100 down payment from Courtney Deatherage.
Courtney Deatherage told investigators she and her ex-husband were arguing over a loan that she asked for and she was texting the Texas man "to blow off steam" and that the situation "kept going," the report states.
Investigators wrote in the report that Courtney Deatherage said she "really didn't think anything would actually happen" and that she "knew what she did was against the law and she wished she never had involved herself with this."
Investigators spoke with Dustin Deatherage and said that he and his wife went to a relative's home to get the weapon to be used in the plot and that his wife either used money from the casino she had won, or her stimulus check to pay the man, the affidavit states.
The relative told investigators during an interview that he was told the shotgun was going to be used to "shoot cans and stuff," the report states.
