A 25-year-old member of the Makah Indian Tribe was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Tacoma to 30 months in prison and ten years of supervised release for sexual abuse of a minor, announced U.S. Attorney Annette L. Hayes. MITCHEL CANAS pleaded guilty in May 2017, admitting he sexually molested a 13-year-old child. At the sentencing hearing, U.S. District Judge Benjamin H. Settle ordered CANAS to register as a sex offender.
According to records in the case, CANAS was indicted by the grand jury in November 2016. The indictment charged that, between November 2015 and October 2016, CANAS sexually abused a person that was 13 years old. At the time of the offense CANAS was 23 years old. The federal court has jurisdiction in this case because the abuse occurred on Makah Tribal trust land.
The case was investigated by the Makah Tribal Police Department and the FBI. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney J. Tate London. Mr. London serves as a Tribal Liaison for the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
