United States Attorney Gregory J. Haanstad of the Eastern District of Wisconsin announced that Stephen Teller, Jr., (age: 41), a former resident of the Menominee Indian Reservation, was sentenced to 24 months in prison for an assault he committed on the Menominee Indian Reservation. Teller, an enrolled member of the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin, pleaded guilty on Dec. 22, 2022, to Domestic Assault by a Habitual Offender in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 117(a). At a hearing on March 28, 2023, Senior United States District Judge William C. Griesbach imposed a total sentence of 24 months in prison, followed by 36 months on supervised release.
On July 29, 2022, officers with the Menominee Tribal Police Department responded to a 911 call from a residence in Keshena, which is on the Menominee Indian Reservation. The caller reported seeing Teller drag a screaming woman into a nearby house. Investigators subsequently learned that Teller had strangled the woman, with whom he was involved in a domestic relationship and shared a child, with his forearm and punched her in the head and back. The woman sustained injuries during the incident. Teller had previously been convicted of similar offenses in Menominee Tribal Court, which made him eligible for federal prosecution.
In sentencing Teller, Judge Griesbach noted “the fact that someone would do this to someone he had a child with is outrageous." Judge Griesbach also reflected upon what he described as a pattern of behavior where Teller engaged in violent acts against women with whom he had a domestic relationship. Judge Griesbach emphasized the need to protect the public from the defendant and observed the need to deter others who might consider engaging in violence against women.
The Menominee Tribal Police Department and Federal Bureau of Investigation investigated the case. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Andrew J. Maier.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys