Skip to main content
Press Release

Coeur d’Alene Tribal Member Sentenced To Federal Prison For Assaulting His Girlfriend On The Colville Indian Reservation

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Washington
Idaho Man Sentenced in Federal Court

Spokane – Joseph H. Harrington, Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington, announced that Silas James Enick, age 31, an enrolled member of the Coeur d’Alene Tribe, was sentenced today after pleading guilty on February 10, 2021, to Assault Resulting in Substantial Bodily Injury to a Spouse, Intimate Partner, or Dating Partner in Indian Country. United States District Judge Thomas O. Rice sentenced Enick to a time-served sentence of 376 days imprisonment, to be followed by a 3-year term of court supervision.

According to information disclosed during court proceedings, this case arose in February 2020 when Enick struck his girlfriend’s face at their residence on the Colville Indian Reservation. Enick’s girlfriend, an enrolled member of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, suffered a broken jaw requiring her to undergo surgery and have her jaw wired shut for almost two months.

Acting United States Attorney Harrington said, “The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Washington works closely with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies to ensure that Native American women and families are protected from violence such as this.”

This case was investigated by the Spokane Resident Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Colville Tribal Police Department. This case was prosecuted by Michael L. Vander Giessen, Special Assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington.

Updated May 13, 2021

Press Release Number: 2:20-cr-00104-TOR