DEA agent’s charges dropped after immunity ruling for deadly Salem crash with cyclist

SALEM Ore. (KPTV) – A federal judge has dropped the homicide charges against a DEA agent in the death of a Salem cyclist.

This deadly crash happened nearly two years ago on March 2, 2023, when DEA Agent Samuel Landis was on duty in Salem and ran a stop sign on a surveillance mission, hitting and killing cyclist Marganne Allen, a 53-year-old wife and mother of two.

What followed was a back-and-forth legal battle in both state and federal court as to whether Landis should face charges.

But on Thursday, federal judge Michael McShane issued his final ruling, granting Landis federal immunity for any consequences surrounding the crash.

SEE ALSO:

In the ruling, the judge says the facts were undisputed that Landis ran the stop sign while on duty.

Home surveillance video obtained by FOX 12 Investigates of the moments leading up to the crash shows just that.

But in the ruling, the judge referenced a Supreme Court case from 125 years ago, which says any federal agent is immune from state criminal or civil penalties while performing their federal duties.

SEE ALSO:

In his conclusion, the judge also said:

“The undisputed evidence is that agent Landis believed he had to drive ‘with a purpose’ to ‘catch up’ to the rest of his team and that in the course of catching up, he believed he could safely run the stop sign. That agent Landis was wrong does not make his honest belief objectively unreasonable.”

After Landis’ federal immunity hearing about a month ago in which the judge indicated Landis would be absolved of any wrongdoing, Marganne Allen’s husband sent FOX 12 a statement that said Landis’ driving behavior was “unjustifiable for him or any DEA agent and resulted in a criminally negligent homicide.”

Copyright 2025 KPTV-KPDX. All rights reserved.