HABITUAL OFFENDER SENTENCED TO FIVE YEARS IN FEDERAL PRISON FOR STABBING HIS GIRLFRIEND IN NESPELEM, WASHINGTON

SPOKANE – William D. Hyslop, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington, announced that Tommie Joe Flett, 47, of Spokane, Washington, and an enrolled member of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, was sentenced yesterday after having pleaded guilty on July 18, 2019, to Domestic Assault by a Habitual Offender in Indian Country. United States District Judge Salvador Mendoza Jr. sentenced Flett to a five-year term of imprisonment, to be followed by a three-year term of court supervision after he is released from federal prison.

According to information disclosed during court proceedings, on the evening of July 11, 2018, Flett traveled with his girlfriend to Owhi Lake in Okanogan County, Washington. While there, Flett became upset with his girlfriend, pulled her out of a car, and hit her several times in the face. Flett’s girlfriend was able to get away and walked several miles to Nespelem, Washington, where Flett found her and again began striking her in the face. Flett then brandished a knife and stabbed his girlfriend multiple times in her leg and hands. Fortunately, a third-party intervened, protecting the girlfriend from further physical harm. At the time of the assault, Flett had multiple prior convictions for assault against a spouse or intimate partner, making Flett a habitual offender under federal law.

United States Attorney Hyslop said, “The sentence imposed by the Court removes a serial abuser from our streets and sends a clear message to others who may choose to engage in such criminal activity. The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Washington, the FBI and the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation Police are committed to investigating and prosecuting violent crimes occurring in the exterior boundaries of the Colville Indian Reservation.”

This case was investigated by the Spokane Resident Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation Police. This case was prosecuted by Richard R. Barker and Alison L. Gregoire, Assistant United States Attorneys for the Eastern District of Washington.