Tribe gets second VAWA conviction

Marquis Ford, 34, was convicted on Tuesday, Aug. 18 in the Cherokee Court for Special Domestic Violence for Assault on a Female, Simple Assault, and three counts of Violating a Domestic Violence Protective Order, pursuant to the newly enacted Cherokee Code Section 14-40.1(c)(2). He was sentenced to 36 months imprisonment, suspended for 36 months and was given a split sentence of 90 days active confinement, after which, he will be placed on Supervised Probation and ordered to pay a fine of $250, a special domestic violence fine of $1,000, and $720 in restitution to the victim of the offense.

The sentence, issued by the Honorable Danny E. Davis, Cherokee Court Judge, was the second Cherokee Court conviction under the tribal provisions of the reauthorized Federal Violence Against Women Act of 2013 (“VAWA 13”) which enable the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians to prosecute non-Native perpetrators for certain crimes of domestic violence occurring on Cherokee lands.

http://theonefeather.com/2015/08/tribe-gets-second-vawa-conviction/