PORTLAND, Ore.- A 23-year-old resident of the Umatilla Indian Reservation has been sentenced to federal prison for voluntary manslaughter after causing the death of another resident of the reservation.
Tom Redhawk Tias reported an unresponsive adult to law enforcement on January 26, 2021. Officers located the victim who was pronounced dead on the scene. Tias informed the officer that he and the victim were in a fight when Tias hit the victim with a branch.
Tias admitted to striking the victim after they fell to the ground.
He was charged by criminal complaint in February 2021 before a federal grand jury indicted Tias on March 16 of the same year. Tias pleaded guilty on December 14, 2022.
Tias will serve 48 months in federal prison before three years of supervised release.
