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Tulalip Tribes man sentenced to two years for illegal firearms

Monday, January 11, 2016

Raymond Lee Fryberg at the federal courthouse in Seattle, Washington, in April 2015. Photo by Craig Newcomb / KOMO / Twitter

Raymond Lee Fryberg, Jr., a member of the Tulalip Tribes of Washington, was sentenced to two years in federal prison on firearms charges.

Fryberg was convicted of six charges after a trial last September. The jury determined that he violated Title 18, Section 922 when he purchased several firearms while subject to a domestic violence protection order.

Fryberg bought the guns at Cabela’s, a privately-owned company with a store on the reservation. One was used in an October 2014 school shooting in which four young people lost their lives and a fifth was seriously injured. Fryberg's son, Jaylen, turned the gun on himself.

According to news reports, Fryberg apologized to the victims of the shooting during his sentencing hearing on Monday.

The case exposed the lack of tribal access to national criminal databases despite a requirement in the Tribal Law and Order Act of 2010. Had the tribe been able to enter its protection order into the system, a background check would have barred Fryberg from purchasing firearms.

Fryberg himself failed to acknowledge that he was under an order every time he purchased a weapon, according to the indictment.

Get the Story:
Dad of Washington school shooter gets 2 years on gun charges (AP 1/11)
Father of Marysville shooter sentenced to 2 years for illegal gun possession (The Seattle Times 1/11)
Father of Marysville-Pilchuck school shooter sentenced (KIRO 1/11)