MUSKOGEE — A former legal assistant for a local attorney has pleaded guilty in federal court to wire fraud.

Anna Jolene Chesnut, 62, Durant, entered the guilty plea Wednesday, announced Sheldon J. Sperling, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Oklahoma.

Chesnut was indicted last month by a federal grand jury following an investigation by the FBI.

The indictment alleges that from August 2008 through March 2009, Chesnut wrote fraudulent checks to herself out of an estate account and trust account while employed as a legal assistant for attorney Mark Morrison.

In March of last year, Chesnut was charged locally with two counts of embezzlement. Court papers state she took more than $80,000 from an estate account she was appointed to oversee and an additional $30,100 from the law firm’s trust account.

Bryan County District Attorney Emily Redman said it is too soon to tell what impact, if any, the federal conviction would have on the local charges.

The Honorable Steven P. Shreder, Magistrate Judge in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma in Muskogee, accepted the defendant’s guilty plea and ordered the completion of a presentence report. Sentencing will be scheduled following its completion. Chesnut remains on bond, pending sentencing.

The statutory range of punishment is not more than 30 years imprisonment and/or up to $1 million in fines. A preliminary calculation of the sentencing guidelines, predicts a term of 24-30 months imprisonment.

In other crimes, two people were jailed Wednesday for suspicion of possessing methamphetamine with intent to distribute.

Durant Police Lt. Jim Smarr was on patrol at 11:54 p.m. in the 1200 block of West Main Street when he saw a pickup make an improper turn. Smarr followed the vehicle and stopped it in on South 12th Avenue.

According to the report, Smarr saw the driver hand something to the passenger. Smarr arrested the driver because he was uncooperative, the report stated, and he had an outstanding warrant for his arrest, plus a suspended driver license.

Smarr asked the passenger what the driver gave her and if she had anything she was not supposed to. She agreed to a search, the report stated, and inside a jacket pocket, he found a glass smoking pipe and a baggie containing 3.3 grams of a substance that tested positive for methamphetamine.

The driver, according to police, denied any knowledge of the methamphetamine or handing the passenger anything.

Inside the vehicle, Smarr found two packages of syringes, an empty box for a set of scales and mail belonging to both suspects, the report stated, and he also found pills inside the woman’s purse.

Clint Wilson, 48, and Amy Franklin, 38, were booked into jail for suspicion of drug possession with intent to distribute. The district attorney’s office will be reviewing the report to determine charges.