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Whatcom County: A 50-year-old member of the Lummi Tribe was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to two years in federal prison and three years of supervised release for repeatedly assaulting his estranged wife.
According to a press memo, LONNIE JESS JAMES, Sr., of Bellingham and the Lummi Reservation, was found to be a habitual offender based on three prior domestic violence assaults that were prosecuted in Lummi Tribal Court.
On November 14, 2014, James entered the home of his estranged wife in violation of a no contact order and assaulted her. He struck her repeatedly and slammed her head against the floor. When she tried to call 9-1-1 for help, James grabbed the phone and threw the victim against the wall so hard that her head made a hole in the drywall. Fortunately another person in the home intervened and stopped James.
According to records filed in the case, he was previously convicted in Lummi Tribal Court of assaulting his wife on March 4, 2014, September 1, 2011, and September 11, 2007.
“This defendant was prosecuted multiple times by Lummi Tribal authorities and did not get the message that he had to stop.
“The federal sentence imposed in this case makes it clear that we will not tolerate intimate partner violence in our tribal communities. Domestic violence destroys families and can do serious long-term damage to victims,” said U.S. Attorney Annette L. Hayes.
James is the third person prosecuted by the office for Domestic Abuse by a Habitual Offender.
The case was investigated by the Lummi Tribal Police Department and the FBI.
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