Inmate close to freedom arrested after drug incident

By Donna Hales

An inmate arriving in Muskogee on a Lear jet from Florida to sign his freedom papers in Adair County was arrested for drug possession upon landing.

Sutanga Cypress, 26, would have walked free Tuesday after signing probation papers, said Adair County Sheriff Gerald Coleman. But the Miccosukee Tribal Police alerted the pilot Cypress had managed to get marijuana from a tribal police evidence room before he left Florida.

The pilot notified authorities, and Muskogee city and county law officers were waiting for the plane to land at Davis Field.

They seized 3-4 ounces of marijuana, $2,241 in cash and a $10,000 check made out to Cypress from the tribe, said Muskogee County Sheriff’s Deputy Jimmy Williams.

He said the check was to pay Cypress’ attorneys in Oklahoma.

“That was extremely dumb — he would have been home free,” Coleman said.

Cypress was serving time two years ago in a state correctional center when Adair County District Judge Elizabeth Brown ordered him released to a tribal family treatment center in Florida, according to court records.

Adair County Assistant District Attorney Shannon Otteson said counselors from the center made repeated reports of how well Cypress was doing and phone calls saying he had received the “maximum cure.”

Brown was not at the courthouse Tuesday and couldn’t be reached for comment. Otteson was in court all day and learned late about Cypress being arrested for drugs in Muskogee County.

Because of the drug incident, Cypress probably faces revocation of his suspended sentence for burglary in Adair County — not probation, she said.

Otteson said the Miccosukee Tribe had paid for all of Cypress’ travel expenses — to Florida and to return to Oklahoma. The money for his fines in Adair County also were paid earlier, she said.

Williams said the pilot of the Lear jet told Bureau of Indian Affair officials at Davis Field that the cost to charter the plane was $15,000.

Several calls were made to Miccosukee tribal officials and law enforcement personnel Tuesday, but no one from the tribe returned calls.

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