WCDA Sentencing Result

District Attorney's Office Releases Information on Outcome of Sexual Assault Case from September 2020

The Washoe County District Attorney’s Office has announced that Tabu Samuel Okello, age 29 from Reno has been sentenced to a maximum term of life in prison after having pled guilty last November to one count of Battery with Intent to Commit Sexual Assault. Based on the sentence received, Okello must serve a minimum of 10 years in prison before parole eligibility begins.

The case against Okello began on September 22, 2020, when the Sparks Police Department (SPD) responded to a report of a sexual assault. SPD detectives began an investigation and determined Okello had assaulted a 21-year-old female victim while she was asleep in bed. Okello had met the female and several of her friends earlier in the evening and had accompanied them back to a residence. The assault happened after the victim left the friends and Okello in the common area of the residence and went to bed. Later in the evening, the victim woke to find Okello sexually assaulting her before he was told to leave and chased out of the apartment by the victim’s friends. Okello was subsequently arrested and this office filed formal criminal charges against him. After posting a $50,000 bail bond, Okello was released from jail but then failed to appear in court for the preliminary hearing, which further delayed the case. Okello was arrested again on June 27, 2021 and the case proceeded to plea and sentencing.

At sentencing, Deputy District Attorney Darcy Cameron argued against a defense request for probation, instead securing the life sentence from the honorable Judge Kathleen Sigurdson.