Oct. 08--A former Gore reserve police officer entered a blind plea of no contest to a first-degree arson charge Tuesday in Muskogee County District Court, according to a District 15 District Attorney's Office representative.
Charles "Mark" Shamblin, 46, of Webbers Falls faced the arson charge for allegedly having attempted to burn his house with his wife and stepdaughter inside.
Associate District Judge Norman Thygesen accepted Shamblin's plea, ordered a presentence investigation and set sentencing for Dec. 18. Under Oklahoma law, Shamblin would have to serve 85 percent of his sentence before becoming eligible for parole.
A blind plea is done without a pre-existing agreement with the state. Presentence investigations allow judges to examine a defendant's past for mitigating or exacerbating circumstances before determining sentencing.
Gore Town Administrator Horace Lindley said Shamblin, a Gore reserve officer for several years, resigned from the police department shortly after the March 30 incident.
According to court records, Cherokee Nation Marshals arrested Shamblin on April 3 in Webbers Falls and booked him into the Muskogee County jail.
According to an affidavit by District Attorney Larry Moore, Webbers Falls Police Chief Aaron Gage said Shamblin allegedly brought a can of gasoline into his house and told his wife and stepdaughter he would burn the house down. According to the affidavit, Shamblin had already set a fire inside the home, allegedly using a cigarette lighter to set a pillow case on a bed and a shirt on fire.
According to court records, Shamblin waived a preliminary hearing on June 17, and pleaded not guilty at his formal arraignment on July 11. He was released from jail on a $50,000 bond on April 8, conditioned on his surrendering his firearms to the Gore Police Department, staying out of Webbers Falls and undergoing a competency evaluation.
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