Citizen Report No. 1757702598 - 1947112263

No publicly available CLEET  record.

In September 2025, The US Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma filed the first criminal indictment arising from the McCurtain County sheriff scandal that began in 2023. The indictment targeted Cody Johnson, a former McCurtain County jail supervisor, who was charged with "Conspiracy Against Rights".

Johnson stands accused of participating in a planned assault on Roper Harris, a then 19-year-old detainee. Harris alleged he was arrested by then Sheriff Kevin Clardy and subsequently beaten in the jail in retaliation for his relationship with, then jail administrator, Alicia Manning’s stepdaughter. Harris suffered bloody injuries, including a serious eye injury caused by a pepper ball fired at close range. 

Harris' civil rights lawsuit remains in litigation.

The scandal first came to public attention in 2023, when the McCurtain Gazette released audio recordings of Sheriff Clardy and others making openly racist remarks and discussing the murder of two Gazette journalists. The revelations drew national outrage and ultimately led to Clardy’s ouster in the following election. Reporter Chris Willingham of the Gazette had long investigated allegations of corruption at the sheriff’s office, including the beating of Harris.

Despite the recordings and civil allegations, Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond and the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation announced in 2023 that they had found no evidence of criminal conduct. Two years later, however, the U.S. Attorney’s Office moved forward with federal charges against Johnson. Johnson has already filed notice of his intent to plead guilty under a plea agreement, with a hearing set for September 17, 2025. His case raises the possibility of further indictments connected to the conspiracy. 

Former Sheriff, Kevin Clardy, has reportedly left McCurtain County, and his current whereabouts are unknown [News2].

The facts surrounding Johnson's indictment demonstrate a troubling pattern of custodial abuse, racial animus, and conspiratorial conduct within the McCurtain County Sheriff’s Office. The involvement of supervisory personnel in orchestrating violence against a detainee, coupled with the public exposure of racist and violent rhetoric by the sheriff himself, calls into question the credibility of testimony, reports, and investigative integrity of both Johnson and Clardy. 

These matters are highly relevant to Brady/Giglio disclosure obligations in any proceeding where their actions, reports, or testimony intersect with a criminal prosecution.