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Courtesy Latimer County Jail Bryan Denny

Courtesy Latimer County Jail Bryan Denny

WILBURTON, Oklahoma – A former Eastern Oklahoma State College instructor was charged with several crimes after investigators found cocaine, marijuana, and a human jawbone in his apartment on campus.

Bryan Denny, 44, of Wilburton, was charged with distribution of a controlled dangerous substance including possession with intent, unlawful removal of a dead body, possession of a firearm while committing a felony, and possession of marijuana, according to documents filed in Choctaw Nation District Court.

Records show Denny was released from the Latimer County Jail after posting a $20,000 bond. 

An EOSC representative said Denny is no longer employed as a criminal justice instructor at the college as of Sept. 5. Denny worked for the campus’ police department as an auxiliary investigator, and previously served as EOSC's police chief and dean of Student Life.

EOSC Police Chief Alton Jones stated in probable cause affidavit college employees contacted him after conducting routine safety inspections of all student and residential apartments on campus. The affidavit states college employees knocked on Denny's apartment door several times before entering the residence.

The report states Denny began “displaying nervous behavior” after being told about the routine inspection. He went into the living room and grabbed a box and a “marijuana rolling tray,” and placed the items into a bathroom drawer.

Jones said he knew Denny was a tribal citizen so he contacted Choctaw Nation prosecutors, who told Jones to move forward with a search warrant request that Choctaw Nation District Judge Richard Branam later approved. The case falls under tribal jurisdiction in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's 2020 McGirt ruling, which deemed Indigenous tribes in Eastern Oklahoma had never been disestablished, as far as criminal prosecution is concerned.

Officers from EOSC, Wilburton, and the Choctaw Nation conducted the search warrant on Denny’s residence, where they found marijuana and paraphernalia in the living room and four small bags containing what field-tested positive for cocaine, the affidavit states. Denny was placed under arrest for the cocaine possession and transported to the Latimer County Jail.

Officers also found a “black hard plastic carrying case” on the top shelf of the laundry closet that contained “what appeared to be a human jawbone with five decayed teeth.”

Denny declined to speak with investigators without counsel present when he was asked about the “artifact.”

His attorneys, from McAlester-based Wagner and Lynch Law Firm, posted a press release earlier this week, stating their client is “a target of a retaliation campaign by former friends and members of law enforcement.” The law firm said tribal prosecutors “decided to join in this campaign to destroy a good man’s reputation by filing charges they know are unprovable."

Denny's attorneys said their client was given an artifact that rested next to another artifact, an arrowhead, that had been passed down to him by a family member. "These artifacts were kept put away ad not left on display by Mr. Denny," they said.

Choctaw Nation District Court Judge Amy Pierce granted a new search warrant for the search of stolen property and desecration of human remains.

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