AnOklahomaCityactivist who led the local chapter of Black Lives Matter has been indicted on federal wire fraud and money laundering charges, accused of diverting millions of dollars in donations meant to support racial justice causes into her own accounts. According to a federal indictment unsealed earlier this month, Tashella Sheri Amore Dickerson, 52, served as executive directorofBlackLivesMatter Oklahoma City (BLM OKC) since at least 2016.
Prosecutors allege that from June 2020 through October 2025, she misappropriated funds that were intended to support protest-related bail efforts andothercharitablepurposes The U.S. attorney’s office saysBLMOKC,althoughnot itself a registered tax-exempt nonprofit,accepteddonations through the Arizona-based Alliance for Global Justice, which served as its fiscal sponsor.
In total, the chapter raised more than $5.6 million from online donors and national bail funds in the aftermath of the 2020 protests following the killing of George Floyd. Federal prosecutors allege that Dickerson deposited at least $3.15 million in returned bail checks into her personal accounts rather than into BLM OKC’s accounts and then spent the funds on luxury travel, retail purchases, groceries, a personal vehicle and six properties in Oklahoma City.
Officials say that while some of the bail money was initially used as intended to post pretrial bail for protesters, when those cases were adjudicated and bail returned, the funds should have gone back into organizational accounts to support future bail needs or other mission-related work. Instead, the indictment alleges, Dickerson routed the returned checks into her own accounts and used them for personal benefit.
On Dec. 3, a federal grand jury in the Western District of Oklahoma returned a 25-count indictment, charging Dickerson with 20 counts of wire fraud and five counts of money laundering. If convicted, she faces up to 20 years in prison for each wire fraud count and significant fines, as well as up to 10 years on each money-laundering charge.
Dickerson, who appeared in a Facebook Live video following the indictment, said she was not in custody but declined to comment on the details of the charges. The case forms part of a broader federal scrutiny of alleged financial mismanagement within certain Black Lives Matter affiliates that have drawn millions in donations since the wave of protests in 2020.