Yakima Man Who Violated No-Contact Order Pleads Guilty to Illegally Possessing Firearms

Vanessa R. Waldref, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington, announced today that Benjamin Cliett, pleaded guilty to one charge of Person Subject to a Court Order in Possession of Firearms. United States District Judge Mary K. Dimke accepted Cliett's guilty plea and scheduled a sentencing hearing for March 4, 2025, in Yakima, Washington.

According to the plea agreement, testimony from an earlier trial, and other court filings, on July 23, 2022, officers with the Yakima Police Department (YPD) were dispatched to Cliett's residence in Yakima. Dispatch told the YPD that neighbors had called to report screaming and other loud noises coming from the residence. YPD also observed groceries spoiling in the sun. When YPD knocked on the front door, all noises stopped from inside the residence.

Aware that Cliett had a no-contact order protecting his intimate partner and fearing that a domestic violence incident was occurring inside, YPD entered the residence. YPD conducted a protective sweep of the residence and found Cliett hiding in a dog kennel in the back yard. Cliett was arrested for violating the no-contact order. While conducting the sweep, YPD observed a tall gun safe in Cliett's bedroom.

The gun safe was forcibly opened and found to contain more than 14 firearms. Cliett's residence was also found to contain more than two dozen ammunition magazines as well as hundreds of rounds of ammunition. Cliett had previously declared under penalty of perjury before the City of Yakima Municipal Court that he did not have any firearms in his possession.

In October 2022, U.S. Attorney Waldref announced her office's Safe Homes, Safe Community Initiative to prevent domestic violence homicides and prevent abusers who have previously been convicted of domestic violence offenses from having access to firearms. Partnering with the Yakima Police Department, Yakima County Prosecutor's Office, Spokane Police Department, and Spokane County Prosecutor's Office, and domestic violence prevention advocates, the U.S. Attorney's Office focuses enforcement on individuals identified as repeat domestic violence abusers who unlawfully possess firearms.

"The unlawful possession of firearms by domestic violence abusers is too often deadly for victims of intimate partner violence and lethal for law enforcement officers responding to emergency calls. In this case, Mr. Cliett possessed more than a dozen firearms he knew he should not have and that he did not disclose when the Yakima Municipal Court issued a no-contact order for his partner," stated U.S. Attorney Waldref. "My Office's Safe Home Safe Community Initiative focuses on curbing gun violence by removing firearms unlawfully possessed by individuals with a track record of violent crime and domestic violence - these efforts protect victims, law enforcement, and the entire community."

This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Yakima Police Department. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Michael J. Ellis.