A Neopit man was sentenced March 4 in federal court to two years in prison for having sexual contact with a 16-year-old girl.
According to court documents, the girl told Menominee Tribal Police on Feb. 11, 2023, that she and a granddaughter of Brian J. Peters had been drinking from the time they arrived at Peters’ residence until they fell asleep on a couch in the living room.
She awoke to Peters touching her inside of her pants.
The girl pushed Peters away, and he went into his bedroom. The girl woke up his granddaughter and they went into Peters’ bedroom and yelled at him, punched and kicked him in the head and body.
The girl then went outside called tribal police and her sister to come get her.
Peters was arrested on the same night, held in tribal custody and, after pleading guilty, received a nine-month sentence, fined $6,500 and placed on two years’ probation.
He worked as a jail trustee and with earning good time, his sentence reduced to six months. He was released in August 2023 and then arraigned on federal charges a month later.
Peters pleaded guilty to a sexual contact charge in November, admitting that what he did was wrong and wished he could take it back.
He faced maximum statutory penalties of three years in prison, a $250,000 fine and a minimum of one-year supervised release.
His attorney, Krista Halla-Valdes, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Maier asked U.S. District Judge William Griesbach for a sentence of a year and a day. Halla-Valdes said the six-month tribal sentence Peters served should be factored into his federal sentence. Also, Peters has worked at the Menominee Cultural Museum since his release, has registered as a sex offender and hasn’t been trouble with the law since 2012.
Halla-Valdes quoted a friend of Peters who identified Peters’ family as “drinkers” which creates an environment that is challenging for Peters to maintain his sobriety.
“When sober, (Peters) has no issues,” Halla-Valdes wrote. “He works, he has a great relationship with his children and grandchildren and has even played a role in raising many of them, but when he drinks, it is to intoxication, and ultimately as his experience indicates, he does stupid things.”
In asking for leniency, Halla-Valdes wrote that Peters no longer drinks, complies with his tribal probation conditions, makes child support payments and continues to work.
Instead, Griesbach doubled the prison time the attorneys recommended and placed Peters on five years’ supervised release.
Peters is to report to prison on a date designated by the Bureau of Prisons.
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