By Mike Carter
The Seattle Times
SEATTLE — An Everett woman indicted on a charge of allegedly lying to a federal grand jury investigating the 2001 shooting death of Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Wales is back in custody after being accused of violating the conditions of her pretrial release, according to court documents.
Shawna Reid, 34, was ordered detained following an initial appearance on Monday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Michelle Peterson, who set an evidentiary hearing for April 20 at 10 a.m.
Reid is accused in documents filed by U.S. Probation and Pretrial Services of using cocaine and other drugs and endangering children while on pretrial release. The allegations also say she is under investigation by Lake Stevens police for domestic violence involving her fiancé. Reid has denied the allegations and has pleaded not guilty to the indictment. Her trial on the federal charges is set for June 29 before U.S. District Judge James Robart.
One of Reid’s defense attorneys, Michael Nance of Bainbridge Island, said he had no comment on the allegations. Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Hoff, a trial lawyer from the DOJ’s Organized Crime and Gang Section in Washington, D.C., said in an email that the government declined to comment.
Reid was indicted by a federal grand jury in August for allegedly lying and obstructing justice. Prosecutors say she tried to deny statements under oath that the FBI said she made during previous interviews regarding her connection to group of people, including a man suspected of being paid to kill Wales. Wales, a veteran white-collar prosecutor and anti-handgun advocate who worked out of the Seattle U.S. Attorney’s Office, was shot several times the night of Oct. 11, 2001, by someone who sneaked into his Seattle backyard and fired at him through a basement window as he sat writing emails.
An FBI task force and a special prosecutor have been investigating the slaying. Agents have focused primarily on an airline pilot whom Wales had unsuccessfully prosecuted in a fraud case. The bureau strongly believes someone was hired to kill Wales and that a small group of individuals know the details. Reid’s arrest — the first in the investigation — is an attempt to take advantage of what investigators believe is a crack in a nearly 20-year wall of silence.
Wales, if he was killed as a result of his job, would be the first federal prosecutor in U.S. history to die in the line of duty. The Department of Justice has offered a $1.5 million reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction in the case.
Reid is not implicated in the killing itself but rather is sought as a witness to statements purportedly made by a former boyfriend, a 38-year-old Camano Island man who has repeatedly been questioned by the FBI about knowledge investigators believe is key to solving the Wales killing. The couple, according to relatives, moved in a small circle of friends that included another man, who the group believed was hired to kill Wales.
Reid, however, may not be an ideal witness. According to documents filed by prosecutors to support revoking her bond, she suffers from a string of mental health issues and has a history of drug and alcohol abuse. She has a tragic past and her family has said she is prone to exaggeration.
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