Colville tribe member convicted in 1991 slaying gets 6 years in federal prison on firearm charge

A 63-year-old member of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation who spent seven years in federal custody after pleading guilty to the 1991 slaying of a man whose body was never found will be back behind bars on gun charges.

James H. Gallaher Jr. pleaded guilty in October to illegally possessing a firearm. Colville Tribal Police searched a camper and Honda sedan belonging to Gallaher at the Chief Joseph Dam in June and found a revolver and three rifles, according to court records. As a convicted felon, Gallaher is barred from possessing weapons.

Gallaher argued that the guns were heirlooms from his father, and that he is seeking drug treatment , according to court records.

Gallaher was implicated in the death of Edwin “Eddy” Pooler in April 1991. Witnesses told police that Gallaher admitted to breaking Pooler’s neck then hiding his body in the woods, after the 45-year-old had drunkenly urinated on Gallaher’s infant daughter. The FBI took Gallaher out to the area near Colville 16 years later and found evidence, but not Pooler’s body.

Gallaher was released from federal custody in that case in December 2013, according to federal Bureau of Prisons records.

U.S. District Court Judge Salvador Mendoza sentenced Gallaher to 71 months in prison at a court hearing in Richland on Feb. 8. The sentence was longer than both what was requested by federal prosecutors (41 months) and his defense attorneys (24 months).

Vanessa Waldref, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Washington, praised Mendoza’s decision in a statement.

“It is alarming that Mr. Gallaher, notwithstanding his lengthy criminal history, brazenly carried multiple firearms in such a public area,” Waldref said.