More than 18 months after the First National Bank of Lindsay failed and left community members with more questions than answers, two men have pleaded guilty in federal court while a third has been charged with fraud and money laundering.

On May 6, former FNBL President Danny Seibel pleaded guilty to one count of bank fraud as part of an agreement that involves the dismissal of 17 other charges.

On June 17, Cody Cordell, the owner of Bunch Trucking and Cordell Energy Services, pleaded guilty to one charge of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and one charge of illegally possessing firearms in violation of his 2015 conviction for wire fraud.

Shaun Christian, the owner of Wynrock Speed Shop in Pauls Valley, has been charged with one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, four counts of bank fraud and three counts of money laundering in connection with the Lindsay bank’s collapse.

U.S. Department of Justice prosecutors have rolled out the cases over the last seven months, slowly revealing details about the community institution’s downfall, which also involved a bank vice president’s suicide. The situation has drawn national attention — with significant speculation — about the community as a whole and the finances of a federally qualified health center, for which Seibel had served as board treasurer.

“Seibel entered false information into bank records regarding some of the loans that he made to businesses associated with Christian,” the April 7 indictment of Christian alleged. “In some instances, Seibel disbursed loans to businesses associated with Christian purportedly to purchase or improve vehicles or equipment or for other purportedly legitimate purposes. The proceeds were instead used to repay portions of other loans, gamble or pay day-to-day expenses.”

The May 28 superseding information filed against Cordell also noted the use of fraudulent First National Bank of Lindsay transactions to “repay portions of other loans, gamble, or pay day-to-day expenses.”

“On several occasions, Cordell texted Seibel asking him to manipulate the bank’s books to add funds to overdrawn accounts for businesses associated with Cordell when Cordell needed money,” the filing alleged. “Cordell was aware of Seibel’s manipulative tactics and the financial benefits that he and his businesses derived from these.”

According to court documents, the bank fraud conspiracy involved “frequent” gambling by Christian, “fake loans” recorded by Seibel and the ultimate loss of between $9.5 million and $25 million.

It’s unclear whether Christian, 57, will take a plea agreement like the other two men or fight his case to trial. Cordell, 38, faces up to 45 years in federal prison after changing his plea to guilty.

Seibel, 55, faces up to 30 years in prison and a fine of up to $1 million, according to a DOJ press release. However, his plea agreement indicates that he has received a recommendation from prosecutors for a “two-level downward adjustment” and an “additional” downward adjustment in his sentence “based on the timeliness of [his] acceptance of this plea agreement and other appropriate considerations.”

From indictment to guilty plea

A federal grand jury in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma first indicted Seibel in December 2025 on 18 counts, including conspiracy to commit bank fraud, bank fraud, false bank entries, obstructing the examination of a financial institution and failing to maintain an anti-money laundering program. His guilty plea May 6 to a single count of bank fraud represents a significant reduction from those original charges.

After first joining FNBL as an intern in 1992, Seibel served as an executive at FNBL from approximately February 2007 until his termination in September 2024. Prosecutors allege he issued loans to customers — many of them personal friends and neighbors — that borrowers never repaid, then manipulated bank records and falsified reports to make the loans appear healthy.

The indictment detailed how Seibel used new loans or transfers of bank funds to cover overdrafts in customer accounts, sometimes responding to text messages from borrowers asking him to “fix” their accounts.

In a March 2024 exchange cited in the indictment, Seibel seemingly pushed back on a request from Cordell, whose account was more than $500,000 overdrawn.

“I’m tired of taking care of your business and get no damn deposits,” Seibel texted. “I have legal lending limits and overdrafts are part of it. I’m sorry my job ain’t worth it.”

However, later in March 2024, Seibel manually added more than $536,000 to Cordell’s account when no such deposit had been made, prosecutors said.

Seibel had previously offered something of a public explanation in a November 2024 response to a civil lawsuit filed by Jack Justice, the bank’s former majority shareholder.

“I, Danny, solely took actions that went against my fiduciary responsibilities to the board of directors of the First National Bank of Lindsay, and its customers,” Seibel wrote at the time. “Those actions were wrongly taken out of deep internal fear for my job and position within the community. I truly believed I could eventually correct these actions with minimal loss to the bank. I truly wanted to help the Lindsay community and believed in certain customers, now knowing that belief was a mistake.”

Justice’s lawsuit, which alleged Seibel caused him losses exceeding $10 million, was dismissed without prejudice in February 2025 at the FDIC’s request pending the outcome of the federal investigation.

Christian’s indictment identifies him as “Borrower 2” from Seibel’s original indictment, a Lindsay-area man who owned several automotive businesses and a company that purportedly sold signs and T-shirts. Christian, who owns Wynrock Speed Shop, was described as a “frequent” gambler and a friend of Seibel’s.

According to the indictments, Christian and Seibel submitted false information in connection with multiple loans in 2021, and Seibel manipulated bank records related to Christian’s accounts to conceal overdrafts and past-due balances, allowing additional funds to be extended multiple times. Prosecutors also allege Christian laundered proceeds from the fraud through various personal expenditures.

Seibel’s indictment offered a window into the relationship between the two men. On March 29, 2023, Christian’s account was overdrawn by more than $372,000. The following day, Seibel created a $400,000 loan to cover the overdraft. The indictment also detailed text exchanges in which Seibel asked Christian to arrange hotel rooms for him at casinos.

“On or about July 5, 2023, Seibel texted Borrower 2 and asked Borrower 2: ‘Any pull to get us a nice room at Riverwind [Casino] Saturday night? Or somewhere else close by? Tried Artesian [Casino] but booked up[.]’ Borrower 2 responded the following day: ‘You’re completely set up for Saturday night under your name,’” the indictment said. “On or about Aug. 31, 2023, Seibel again texted Borrower 2 and asked Borrower 2 whether he could book him a room at the Riverwind Casino. Borrower 2 replied that he had reserved Seibel a ‘[j]unior suite.’ Seibel responded: ‘No shit?! Awesome. Thanks man.’”

Christian has a lengthy criminal history in Oklahoma, according to state court and Department of Corrections records. He also received a default judgment in a civil enforcement action brought by the Oklahoma Department of Securities in 2021. That case noted convictions for embezzlement, bogus check fraud, obtaining money by false pretenses, forgery and home repair fraud.

Christian and another defendant were accused of perpetrating a fraudulent scheme involving the sale of a $10,000 investment in a company called Empire Dispensary.

“In connection with the offer and sale of the investment to the investor, defendants stated that they had an existing lease for space in Moore in which to operate the dispensary; however, they did not,” the Oklahoma Department of Securities alleged. “In connection with the offer and sale of the investment to the investor, defendants omitted to state that Christian has an extensive criminal history.”

Cordell, described as “Borrower 1” in Seibel’s indictment, also had a prior criminal record. In 2015, he pleaded guilty to a federal wire fraud count that noted more than $69,000 in losses for an Ardmore company.

“On or about March 13, 2013, I, Cody Dillon Cordell submitted a $7,200 false invoice to Action Petroleum Services Corp. located in Ardmore, Oklahoma and in the Eastern District of Oklahoma,” Cordell stipulated in his 2015 plea agreement. “The invoice represented oil field services that I did not provide. Based on the false invoice, Action Petroleum Service Corp. caused $6,000 to be electronically wired to my bank account in Lindsay, Oklahoma.”

At the time, Cordell’s bank account was at American Exchange Bank, a separate community bank in downtown Lindsay. Cordell was sentenced to 15 months in federal prison for the crime. In 2020, he was convicted of child abuse and received a six-year deferred sentence, according to DOC records.

Seibel’s indictment also referenced a “Borrower 3” as someone with a business to which Seibel reassigned one of Christian’s loans “without notifying” them. The person was identified as a friend of Seibel’s and “an FNBL customer who owned and operated an HVAC business that often serviced marijuana grow houses.” Borrower 3’s identity is not listed publicly in court documents.

Asked whether Borrower 3 in the Seibel indictment is also facing charges or an investigation, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Western District of Oklahoma declined to comment.