Swinomish Tribal Member Pleads Guilty to Domestic Violence Assault
Tribal Member a ‘Habitual Offender’ Following Tribal Court Convictions for Prior Assaults

JONATHAN H. JACK, 28, an enrolled member of the Swinomish Indian Tribe, pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to domestic assault by a habitual offender. JACK qualifies as a habitual offender due to two prior convictions in Swinomish Tribal Court for domestic violence assaults against the mother of his children. JACK was arrested April 6, 2011, after he assaulted the woman and her father and violated both a no contact order and a ban from the Swinomish Indian Reservation. Under the terms of the plea agreement, prosecutors and JACK’s attorney will both ask for a 24 month prison term when he is sentenced by U.S. District Judge Richard A. Jones on February 10, 2012.

According to records in the case, JACK was arrested at a home on the Swinomish Reservation after tribal police were called to the scene. JACK allegedly broke into the home through a bedroom window and assaulted his former girlfriend and her father. JACK tried to leave the home by going back out the window. He struggled with a Tribal Police officer and had to be tasered three times before police could handcuff him. JACK had been convicted on September 1, 2010, for two prior assaults against the female victim in this case. Those assaults occurred on March 7, 2010 and August 23, 2010. JACK was banned from Swinomish Tribal Land for two years and ordered to have no contact with the victim. Those orders were violated with the April 6, 2011 assault.

The case is being investigated by the Swinomish Tribal Police and the FBI. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney J. Tate London. Mr. London serves as a Tribal Liaison for the U.S. Attorney’s Office.