A 36-year-old member of the Tulalip Tribes was sentenced March 21 in U.S. District Court in Seattle to almost six years in prison in prison for multiple assaults on his partner.
Morgan Bryant pleaded guilty in December to two counts of assault resulting in serious bodily injury, assault by strangulation, assault with a dangerous weapon, and domestic assault by a habitual offender. His sentence is 71 months.
According to records, Bryant assaulted his live-in partner on numerous occasions: punching her, kicking her, hitting her with a hammer and a wrench, and strangling her. When treated by medical professionals, the victim had a broken wrist, broken ribs and broken bones in her face. At sentencing, U.S. District Judge Robert S. Lasnik said, “He cannot do this ever again to any woman.”
“Such violent, vicious assaults deserve significant federal prison time,” U.S. Attorney Brian T. Moran said. “The Tribal Liaisons in my office are using important tools such as the Habitual Offender Domestic Assault statute to ensure domestic violence assaults are investigated, prosecuted and punished to protect the vulnerable in our tribal communities.”
According to records, in March 2018 the victim sent her family and friends text messages asking for help. She included a photo that showed she had one black eye, an eye swollen shut and bruises on her face. Tulalip Tribal police responded. Because no one would answer the door, police obtained a search warrant. Inside they found the victim with severe injuries, including a bloody head-wound with a towel super-glued in place. The victim was taken to a hospital and later disclosed months of abuse, including a November 2017 fight where Bryant broke her wrist and a January 2018 argument where Bryant punched and kicked her, struck her with a wrench and hammer while keeping her locked in a bathroom for hours, strangled her, and hit her over the head with a plate. Finally, in the March 2018 assault that led to his arrest, Bryant repeatedly punched her, leaving her bruised and bloody. Bryant has previous convictions in Everett Municipal Court and Tulalip Tribal Court for domestic violence assaults on other victims.
