Thirty-two individuals have been convicted in Oklahoma City and Muskogee federal courts for their roles in drug trafficking operations directed from state prisons.
In the larger of the two cases, three convicts have been sentenced in Oklahoma City’s Western District federal court for their roles in directing a major methamphetamine drug-trafficking organization from behind prison walls, by using contraband mobile phones, U.S. Attorney Robert J. Troester announced.
As a result of a twoyear investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Control, law enforcement seized approximately 90 kilograms of methamphetamine, 22 firearms, and nearly $350,000 in drug proceeds The investigation also led to the a rrests of 27 individuals throughout Oklahoma. All 27 have pleaded guilty and have been sentenced to serve nearly 235 years collectively, in addition to one life term, in federal prison.
“Inmates using contraband cellphones behind prison walls orchestrated an entire network to traffic deadly poison in our community,” Troester said. “Dismantling this operation required a united front among federal and state agencies, committed to stop the flow of drugs and hold the traffickers accountable.”
“The results from this investigation have no doubt saved lives. These individuals were responsible for orchestrating the distribution of large shipments of meth – which continues to be one of Oklahoma’s leading killers – onto the streets of Oklahoma while behind bars,” said OBN Director Donnie Anderson.
Despite being incarcerated, Zachary Clark, 35; Brandon Horne, 42; and Johnny Ross, 32; were able to run a signif icant drug trafficking organization with connections to the Irish Mob Gang, through the use of contraband cellphones. They relied on individuals who were not in prison to facil itate the distribution of the drugs, primarily methamphetamine, and collection of drug proceeds.
Defendants charged and sentenced as a result of this investigation include:
• Clark was sentenced to life in federal prison for drug conspiracy.
• Horne was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, for drug conspiracy.
• Ross was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, for drug conspiracy.
Two dozen other people were convicted of drug and/or firearm charges. Twenty-three of those people were sentenced to prison for periods ranging from 16 years and 8 months, to one year and a day, and one person was placed on five years of probation.
Drug distro directed from Holdenville Five Oklahoma residents were sentenced in Muskogee’s Eastern District Federal Court between February 2024 and May 2025 for their roles in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.
The leader of the drug trafficking organization, Christopher Adam Banschbach, 40, of Holdenville, was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison for drug conspiracy. Banschbach’s four co-defendants each pleaded guilty to one count of drug conspiracy and one count of possession with intent to distribute.
• Ricky Edward Hall, 30, of Covington, was sentenced to 27 years in prison.
• Joshua Levi Kendrick, 43, of Muskogee, was sentenced to 19.5 years in prison.
• Christina Gail Pool, 43, of Muskogee, was sentenced to almost four years in prison.
• Brittany Marie Cagle, 35, of Wagoner, was sentenced to 14 years in prison.
Between March and November 2022, while serving time on state charges at the Davis Correctional Facility in Holdenville, Banschbach coordinated and directed the distribution of approximately 45 kilograms – 99 pounds – of methamphetamine. Cagle and other members of the conspiracy obtained the methamphetamine from various locations and distributed it in Muskogee and other locations.
Cagle admitted that she “supported and furthered the distribution of methamphetamine by the Universal Aryan Brotherhood, a prison-based gang,” while she was confined in the Muskogee County Jail and after her release from custody.
The criminal charges against the f ive arose from an investigation led by the OBN with assistance from the Muskogee Police Department and the Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office.
Banschbach was convicted in Oklahoma County of methamphetamine possession in 2009 and again in 2010, plus possession of a firearm in 2010 after a juvenile adjudication. He also pleaded guilty in Cleveland County in 2015 to armed robbery and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon after a previous felony conviction; he was sentenced to 20 years in prison.