By Patti Weaver
STILLWATER — A 57-year-old Cushing man, who admitted possessing stolen copper wire specific to AT&T phone and utility lines on April 11, 2025, has been placed on three years’ probation with an order to pay $31,785 restitution as part of a plea agreement with the prosecution approved in court by District Judge Jason Reese on March 13.
Gary Wayne Nichols, who also admitted allowing 29 marijuana plants to be cultivated on land at his residence on Maple Street, was given a concurrent three years’ probation for that felony offense. As part of his plea bargain, misdemeanor counts of possessing methamphetamine and a smoking pipe were dropped by the prosecution.
According to an affidavit by Payne County Sheriff’s Investigator Brandon Myers, there were “multiple thefts of suspended AT&T phone lines in and around Cushing to include the lines directly north of 738 E. Maple Street in the alley.
“During some of the thefts, fiber optic lines were cut that disabled the 911 systems and public safety communications, creating a substantial risk to the safety of the citizens when seconds count.
“On April 11, 2025, at 8:23 pm, I received a report of suspected copper wire theft west of Kings Hwy. on Eseco Road in rural Payne County. A deputy responded to the area and located a ski mask near discarded copper wire sheathing. At the time, I could not find a filed incident report for the theft or confirm the utility provider victim.”
On April 14, 2025, at 3:43 pm, Cushing Animal Control Officer Amanda Murie said she saw “an unidentified female stripping copper wire in the backyard of 738 E. Maple Street during a routine call. Subsequent investigation confirmed AT&T as the victim of the April 12, 2025, theft, and an AT&T technician reviewed the photograph (taken by Murie) and verified the wire as proprietary telephone line material,” the investigator’s affidavit said.
When the sheriff’s investigator along with deputies and Cushing police served a search warrant at Nichols’ house where four suspects also lived, “On the kitchen floor, we found single-strand copper wire matching AT&T telephone lines”; various tools used to steal and process copper wire were discovered in the laundry room, his affidavit said.
“In the backyard, we found matching wire and sheathing in a metal bucket, as well as a green backpack with J-hook tow straps consistent with wire theft methods. In the unattached garage, we located empty black sheathing with steel support wire (proprietary to AT&T) and a plastic tote containing de-sheathed copper and low-value support wire.
“On the east side of the garage was an old heavy-gauge steel outdoor grill used to melt the sheathing from the wire. There was a black rubber bucket next to the grill that contained stripped copper wire and pieces of the multi-colored AT&T sheathing. Three poly cart trash cans along the curb in front of the residence contained a large amount of discarded wire sheathing. In one of the trash cans was a large black trash bag that was full of the AT&T colored sheathing,” the affidavit said.
Interviews with the residents revealed “their collective participation in stripping stolen wire for resale. Gary Nichols and Jason Reyes reportedly would go out in the evening and steal suspended wire, and I was told how they used ropes to reach and pull down the lines, aligning with a green backpack with the tow straps inside,” the sheriff’s investigator wrote in his affidavit.
Jason Maurice Reyes, 49, pleaded guilty on July 11, 2025, to possessing stolen copper wire along with a methamphetamine pipe and three syringes; he was sentenced to five years of probation except 180 days in jail on the felony copper charge, along with one year of probation on the drug paraphernalia count.
Zalda Renee Wikel, 52, pleaded guilty on Nov. 14, 2025, to a single count of possessing stolen copper and was placed on three years’ probation on a deferred sentence with an order to undergo random drug tests and maintain employment.
Judy Raeann Oyler, 23, pleaded guilty on Aug. 22, 2025, to possessing stolen copper, as well as methamphetamine and a smoking pipe, for which she was originally placed on seven years’ probation under a deferred sentence except 90 days in jail, with an order to have a substance abuse evaluation, take any recommended treatment, undergo random drug tests, perform 50 hours of community service, and maintain employment; however on March 13 of this year, she was found in violation of her probation and ordered into the Payne County Drug Court program.
Jade Marlee Oyler, 23, pleaded guilty on May 28, 2025, to the same charges as her twin sister and was released from jail to enter an inpatient program; on Feb. 3 of this year, she was placed on three years’ probation under a deferred sentence with an order to have a substance abuse evaluation, take any recommended treatment and undergo random drug tests, court records show.
