Score:   1
Docket Number:   WD-WA  2:18-cr-00302
Case Name:   USA v. Morris
  Press Releases:
          A Bellingham, Washington woman who used her employee access to steal $200,000 from the Lummi Nation’s Silver Reef Casino was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to time-served (approximately 10 months in prison) and two years of supervised release, announced U.S. Attorney Brian T. Moran.  SHANNON MARIE MORRIS is a Lummi Tribal member and was an employee of the casino on November 24, 2018, when she stole $200,000 from the vault at the casino.  Hours after the theft, MORRIS led law enforcement to where she had stashed the cash, but not before making a false report about a bomb in the casino that forced the evacuation of the casino and adjacent hotel.  At the sentencing hearing, U.S. District Judge Richard A. Jones noted that MORRIS placed her young son in harm’s way and adversely impacted the lives of a lot of people due to the bomb scare.

            According to records filed in the case, it was just before 3:00 AM on November 24, 2018 when MORRIS walked into the employee entrance at the rear of the casino and got another employee to let her into the cash vault.  MORRIS filled a bag with four bricks of cash totaling $200,000 and told the employee in the vault not to push the panic button.  MORRIS ran from the vault, got in her car and drove away.  MORRIS called 9-1-1 claiming that a man with a gun had forced her to rob the casino and that the man claimed to have placed a bomb at the casino which he would trigger if she did not steal the money.  MORRIS claimed the man had jumped out of her car with the money.

            Because of the report of a bomb, law enforcement from the Lummi Nation, Bellingham and Ferndale Police Departments, the FBI and the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Department evacuated the hotel and casino.  No bomb was located.

            While being questioned by law enforcement, MORRIS’ statement changed over time: initially she claimed that a strange man with a gun held her and her child hostage and forced her to steal the money from the casino.  Later she admitted she was alone in the vehicle with her child when she drove to the casino and stole the money.  MORRIS led the investigators to the location in Ferndale where she had hidden the money near a tree at the side of the road.

            While the money was recovered, the Lummi Nation still lost money due to the evacuation of the hotel and casino on a busy holiday weekend.  The funds generated by the hotel and casino are used to provide services to the tribal members and their families.

            On December 12, 2018, MORRIS was indicted for theft by an employee of a gaming establishment on Indian lands.  She pleaded guilty to that charge on June 12, 2019.

            The case was investigated by the Lummi Nation Police Department and the FBI, with assistance from the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office.

            The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney J. Tate London

Docket (0 Docs):   https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1WTVBDptfwlaFXoOK6YDTgS_zDT-jchn6JI0PzZIbjPA
  Last Updated: 2023-10-19 04:40:35 UTC
Description: The fiscal year of the data file obtained from the AOUSC
Format: YYYY

Description: The code of the federal judicial circuit where the case was located
Format: A2

Description: The code of the federal judicial district where the case was located
Format: A2

Description: The code of the district office where the case was located
Format: A2

Description: Docket number assigned by the district to the case
Format: A7

Description: A unique number assigned to each defendant in a case which cannot be modified by the court
Format: A3

Description: A unique number assigned to each defendant in a case which can be modified by the court
Format: A3

Description: A sequential number indicating whether a case is an original proceeding or a reopen
Format: N5

Description: Case type associated with the current defendant record
Format: A2

Description: A concatenation of district, office, docket number, case type, defendant number, and reopen sequence number
Format: A18

Description: A concatenation of district, office, docket number, case type, and reopen sequence number
Format: A15

Description: The status of the defendant as assigned by the AOUSC
Format: A2

Description: A code indicating the fugitive status of a defendant
Format: A1

Description: The date upon which a defendant became a fugitive
Format: YYYYMMDD

Description: The date upon which a fugitive defendant was taken into custody
Format: YYYYMMDD

Description: The date when a case was first docketed in the district court
Format: YYYYMMDD

Description: The date upon which proceedings in a case commenced on charges pending in the district court where the defendant appeared, or the date of the defendant’s felony-waiver of indictment
Format: YYYYMMDD

Description: A code used to identify the nature of the proceeding
Format: N2

Description: The date when a defendant first appeared before a judicial officer in the district court where a charge was pending
Format: YYYYMMDD

Description: A code indicating the event by which a defendant appeared before a judicial officer in the district court where a charge was pending
Format: A2

Description: A code indicating the type of legal counsel assigned to a defendant
Format: N2

Description: The title and section of the U.S. Code applicable to the offense committed which carried the highest severity
Format: A20

Description: A code indicating the level of offense associated with FTITLE1
Format: N2

Description: The four digit AO offense code associated with FTITLE1
Format: A4

Description: The four digit D2 offense code associated with FTITLE1
Format: A4

Description: A code indicating the severity associated with FTITLE1
Format: A3

Description: The FIPS code used to indicate the county or parish where an offense was committed
Format: A5

Description: The date of the last action taken on the record
Format: YYYYMMDD

Description: The date upon which judicial proceedings before the court concluded
Format: YYYYMMDD

Description: The date upon which the final sentence is recorded on the docket
Format: YYYYMMDD

Description: The date upon which the case was closed
Format: YYYYMMDD

Description: The number of days from the earlier of filing date or first appearance date to proceeding date
Format: N3

Description: The number of days from proceeding date to disposition date
Format: N3

Description: The number of days from disposition date to sentencing date
Format: N3

Description: The code of the district office where the case was terminated
Format: A2

Description: A code indicating the type of legal counsel assigned to a defendant at the time the case was closed
Format: N2

Description: The title and section of the U.S. Code applicable to the offense that carried the most severe disposition and penalty under which the defendant was disposed
Format: A20

Description: A code indicating the level of offense associated with TTITLE1
Format: N2

Description: The four digit AO offense code associated with TTITLE1
Format: A4

Description: The four digit D2 offense code associated with TTITLE1
Format: A4

Description: A code indicating the severity associated with TTITLE1
Format: A3

Description: The code indicating the nature or type of disposition associated with TTITLE1
Format: N2

Description: The number of months a defendant was sentenced to prison under TTITLE1
Format: N4

Description: A code indicating whether the prison sentence associated with TTITLE1 was concurrent or consecutive in relation to the other counts in the indictment or information or multiple counts of the same charge
Format: A4

Description: The number of months of probation imposed upon a defendant under TTITLE1
Format: N4

Description: A period of supervised release imposed upon a defendant under TTITLE1
Format: N3

Description: The fine imposed upon the defendant at sentencing under TTITLE1
Format: N8

Description: The total prison time for all offenses of which the defendant was convicted and prison time was imposed
Format: N4

Description: The total fine imposed at sentencing for all offenses of which the defendant was convicted and a fine was imposed
Format: N8

Description: A count of defendants filed including inter-district transfers
Format: N1

Description: A count of defendants filed excluding inter-district transfers
Format: N1

Description: A count of original proceedings commenced
Format: N1

Description: A count of defendants filed whose proceedings commenced by reopen, remand, appeal, or retrial
Format: N1

Description: A count of defendants terminated including interdistrict transfers
Format: N1

Description: A count of defendants terminated excluding interdistrict transfers
Format: N1

Description: A count of original proceedings terminated
Format: N1

Description: A count of defendants terminated whose proceedings commenced by reopen, remand, appeal, or retrial
Format: N1

Description: A count of defendants pending as of the last day of the period including long term fugitives
Format: N1

Description: A count of defendants pending as of the last day of the period excluding long term fugitives
Format: N1

Description: The source from which the data were loaded into the AOUSC’s NewSTATS database
Format: A10

Description: A sequential number indicating the iteration of the defendant record
Format: N2

Description: The date the record was loaded into the AOUSC’s NewSTATS database
Format: YYYYMMDD

Description: Statistical year ID label on data file obtained from the AOUSC which represents termination year
Format: YYYY

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