Wellpinit Man Sentenced to Federal Prison for Violent Assault

Spokane – Michael C. Ormsby, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington, announced that Richard James Peone, age 21, of Wellpinit, Washington, was sentenced after having previously pleaded guilty in May, 2014 to one count of Assault With a Dangerous Weapon. Senior United States District Court Judge Justin L. Quackenbush sentenced Peone to a thirty-nine month term of imprisonment, to be followed by three years of court supervision after he is released from Federal prison.

According to information disclosed during the court proceedings, on August 13, 2012, Peone and others picked up the victim and drove him to a remote location on the Spokane Indian Reservation, where the victim was assaulted. The assault was in retaliation for a previous drug transaction that involved the victim.

Michael C. Ormsby stated, “Violence committed in relation to drug trafficking will not be tolerated in the Eastern District of Washington, particularly such violent acts that are committed on an Indian reservation. I commend the Spokane Tribal Police and the FBI for their cooperative and diligent efforts in investigating this case.”

This investigation was conducted by FBI and the Spokane Tribal Police Department. The case was prosecuted by Rudy J. Verschoor, an Assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington.

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