Two Oklahoma Men Get Five Years Each for Wrapping a Sleeping Inmate in Toilet Paper and Setting Him on Fire

Justin Randall Gering, 30, of Fairland, and Tyler Levi Tavis, 23, of Miami, Oklahoma, wrapped a sleeping inmate in toilet paper inside the Ottawa County Jail on December 23, 2022, and set it on fire. Jail cameras caught it. A county-issued fire-retardant blanket kept the victim from being cooked. Other inmates put the flames out. In March 2024 both men pleaded guilty to a federal arson count that applied because the jail takes federal money. U.S. District Judge Gregory K. Frizzell gave each of them 60 months, plus a year of supervised release.

ATF and the Ottawa County Sheriff’s Office investigated. Assistant U.S. Attorney George Jiang prosecuted. U.S. Attorney Clinton J. Johnson’s Northern District office announced the sentences. Gering and Tavis stayed in custody pending a Bureau of Prisons transfer. The jail had more fire trouble later: an October 2024 blaze closed the building for months and sent inmates to neighboring counties.

The AEGIS Alliance covered another Oklahoma file the same week: Hunter Smiley, sentenced to life for killing his 9-month-old son. More of this beat is in Crime News. The Justice Department release is here.