A federal grand jury in Oklahoma City has indicted Tashella Sheri Amore Dickerson, the longtime executive director of Black Lives Matter Oklahoma City (BLMOKC), on charges of wire fraud and money laundering, U.S. Attorney Robert J. Troester announced Thursday.
According to statements provided to Breitbart News, senior Justice Department and FBI officials said the case reflects an effort to pursue alleged financial misconduct connected to the organization.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said the Department of Justice is “committed to unraveling and prosecuting fraud in the Black Lives Matter organization,” adding that the case demonstrates how some of its leadership allegedly used donor funds “to bankroll their own lifestyles.” FBI Director Kash Patel said the bureau is “committed to following the money and pursuing bad actors who perpetrate fraud on the American people,” and that the defendant allegedly used her position within the organization to “steal donor money and enrich their own lifestyle.”
Dickerson, 52, has served as BLMOKC’s executive director since 2016. According to the Justice Department’s press release, she had access to the organization’s bank, PayPal, and CashApp accounts during the years in which the alleged misconduct occurred.
Financial Structure and Grant Requirements
The indictment outlines how BLMOKC raised funds and how those funds were intended to be used. Although BLMOKC was not a registered 501(c)(3) organization, it accepted donations through its fiscal sponsor, the Alliance for Global Justice (AFGJ), based in Arizona. Under that arrangement, AFGJ required that BLMOKC use funds only for purposes permitted under Section 501(c)(3), fully document its expenditures upon request, and refrain from purchasing real estate without AFGJ’s approval.
Beginning in late spring 2020, BLMOKC raised more than $5.6 million from online donors and national bail funds, including the Community Justice Exchange, the Massachusetts Bail Fund, and the Minnesota Freedom Fund. According to the indictment, the grants were intended to cover pretrial bail for individuals arrested during racial justice protests following the death of George Floyd. Returned bail funds were sometimes allowed to be retained by BLMOKC to create a revolving bail fund or to support its broader social justice mission.
Alleged Misuse of Funds
Prosecutors allege that between June 2020 and at least October 2025, Dickerson diverted more than $2 million in returned bail checks into her personal accounts rather than depositing them into BLMOKC accounts. The indictment states that at least $2.35 million was deposited into her own accounts.
According to the Justice Department, she allegedly used the money for personal expenses including recreational travel to Jamaica and the Dominican Republic, tens of thousands of dollars in retail purchases, more than $50,000 in food and grocery deliveries, a personal vehicle, and six properties in Oklahoma City purchased either in her name or through Equity International, LLC, a company she controlled.
The indictment also alleges that Dickerson submitted two false annual reports to AFGJ, representing that BLMOKC funds had been used solely for tax-exempt purposes and failing to disclose their alleged diversion to personal use.
Charges and Potential Penalties
On December 3, the grand jury returned a 25-count indictment charging Dickerson with 20 counts of wire fraud and five counts of money laundering. Each wire fraud count carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison and a fine of up to $250,000. Each money-laundering count carries up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 or twice the amount of criminally derived funds involved.
If convicted on all counts, Dickerson faces a maximum of 450 years in prison and fines totaling at least $7.5 million, potentially higher depending on the amount of money deemed criminally derived.
The Justice Department stated that the charges resulted from an investigation by the FBI’s Oklahoma City Field Office and IRS-Criminal Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matt Dillon and Jessica L. Perry are prosecuting the case.
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Just like everybody else and all the other prosecuted cases, nothing will happen or it will be a slap on the wrist… we, the American people are tired of this. We want to see real justice with real sentences and real repercussions for people’s fraudulent actions. Actions have consequences, it’s time that point get hammered home and hammered hard.