DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

ACTING UNITED STATES ATTORNEY EDWARD R. RYAN
WESTERN DISTRICT OF NORTH CAROLINA

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 1, 2009

CONTACT: SUELLEN PIERCE
704.338.3120
FAX 704.227.0264

TRIBAL MEMBER SENTENCED ON FEDERAL ATTEMPTED MURDER-RELATED CHARGES Asheville, NC - John Douglas Bird, Jr., an enrolled member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, was sentenced on August 25, 2009 in federal court in Asheville on multiple counts including attempted murder, assault with intent to commit murder, assault with a dangerous weapon with intent to do bodily harm, assault resulting in serious bodily injury, and a related count of federal firearms violation. Bird was convicted at trial earlier in August of this year, announced Acting U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina Edward R. Ryan. U.S. District Judge Lacy Thornburg sentenced Bird, 21, of Cherokee, North Carolina, to a total of 330 months (more than 27 years) in federal prison.

"The United States Attorney’s Office appreciates the work of the Cherokee Indian Police Department. The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians can fully expect that we will vigorously prosecute those who would engage in violent and illegal conduct on the Reservation," said Acting U.S. Attorney Edward R. Ryan.

According to official court documents, Defendant Bird shot his victim at least four times in the face and arm on Christmas day 2008 in the Bunches Creek area of the Cherokee reservation. Bird ran from police during their first encounter, but was later apprehended on January 8, 2009. Following the administration of a polygraph interview, Bird confessed to the shooting.

The Court’s sentence of 330 months of imprisonment falls within the applicable Federal Sentencing Guidelines for Bird’s offense. These Guidelines consider several factors that addressed the seriousness of the conduct. A federal magistrate judge ordered Bird to be held in federal custody in a local jail on May 6, 2009 pending the outcome of his case. He will be transported to a federal prison facility when he is notified by the U.S. Marshals that a facility has been designated for his incarceration by the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Federal sentences are served without possibility of parole.

The case was investigated by the Cherokee Indian Police Department, and was handled for the government by Assistant United States Attorney Don Gast of the Asheville office of the United States Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina.