A Whatcom County man has been sentenced to over four years in prison for assaulting his intimate partner, as announced by Acting U.S. Attorney Teal Luthy Miller. Jason Sieber Sr., a 50-year-old member of the Lummi Nation, received a 51-month sentence from U.S. District Judge Ricardo S. Martinez at the U.S. District Court in Seattle. The judge remarked on the severity of the attack, stating, “This was a horrific attack over a long period of time – it could have ended her life.”
Sieber was federally charged in February 2024 for an incident that occurred on October 20, 2023. He has been held at the Federal Detention Center at SeaTac since his arrest. Court records indicate that Sieber became angry with the victim due to the time she took to prepare dinner and proceeded to strike her repeatedly, causing significant injuries.
Prosecutors described the assault as “brutal and prolonged,” detailing how Sieber inflicted facial fractures and extreme pain on his partner over several hours. The assault included punching, slapping, burning with a cigarette, and strangling the victim while making threats about ending her life. Assistant United States Attorney Carolyn Forstein recounted these threats during court proceedings.
The victim reported the incident to Lummi Nation Police ten days later, leading to initial charges in tribal court before federal prosecutors took over the case. Despite being charged, Sieber attempted to influence the victim’s account of events, which led to an obstruction of justice determination by the judge.
Following his prison term, Sieber will be subject to three years of supervised release. The investigation was conducted by the Lummi Nation Police Department and the FBI under the Safe Trails Taskforce initiative. The prosecution team included Assistant United States Attorney Carolyn Forstein and former Assistant United States Attorney J. Tate London.
