MUSKOGEE, OKLAHOMA – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma has announced that Jade Larae Duncan, a 28-year-old resident of Stilwell, Oklahoma, has been sentenced to 12 months and one day in prison. This sentence follows her guilty plea to one count of involuntary manslaughter in Indian Country. Following her prison term, Duncan will undergo two years of supervised release.
The charge stems from an investigation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, and the Adair County Sheriff’s Office.
On February 11, 2025, Duncan admitted guilt to the charge. Investigators reported that on December 2, 2022, Duncan’s vehicle veered off Salem Road (E 893 Road) in Adair County and crashed into a creek bed. Duncan managed to free herself and one passenger before the vehicle caught fire. Unfortunately, a second passenger was trapped in the back seat and succumbed to injuries from the crash and subsequent fire. During the investigation, Duncan acknowledged consuming alcohol before driving. A witness described her as “tired and sleepy.” Toxicology results showed her blood alcohol level was approximately 0.085 g/ml shortly after the crash—slightly above the legal limit of 0.080 g/ml.
The incident occurred within Cherokee Nation Reservation boundaries in Eastern Oklahoma.
Chief U.S. District Judge Ronald A. White presided over the hearing at the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma. Duncan is scheduled to self-report on August 4, 2025, to a facility operated by the United States Bureau of Prisons for her non-paroleable incarceration term.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lewis M. Reagan, Patrick M. Flanigan, and T. Cameron McEwen.
