FREDERICK – A woman who was allowed to enroll in a drug court program after pleading guilty to narcotics charges in two southwest Oklahoma counties was subsequently sent to prison for repeated violations of her drug court contract over a 19-month period.
Kelli Michelle Howard, 34, pleaded guilty in May 2020 to distribution of a controlled substance within 2,000 feet of a park in Tillman County, and to conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance in Jackson County.
She signed a plea agreement which provided that the felony charges against her would be dismissed if she successfully completed a drug court program.
However, that agreement was revoked on June 27, 2022, after Howard “candidly” admitted a host of infractions, including repeated violations for contact with another drug court participant. She also received several sanctions ranging from writing assignments to incarceration.
“Evidence shows that the use of incentives and sanctions for nearly two years was insufficient to gain compliance,” a court document relates.
Associate District Judge Eric Yarbrough sentence Howard to 12 years for drug distribution and 10 years for conspiracy; both prison sentences are to run concurrently. Yarbrough also imposed a $1,280 fine (reduced from $10,000) plus a $1,000 drug assessment payable to the district attorney, and ordered Howard to pay $2,287 in restitution to the drug court program.
He also directed the Oklahoma Department of Corrections to place Howard in programs “to address mental health and substance abuse.”
Howard wasted no time in filing an appeal with the state Court of Criminal Appeals, but her appeal was denied.
She is confined in the Eddie Warrior Correctional Center at Taft, DOC records reflect.