POCATELLO – Dillon McCandless, 28, of Blackfoot, was
sentenced yesterday to 105 months in prison for the July 2017 robbery of the
Shoshone-Bannock Tribes’ Sage Hill Casino, U.S. Attorney Bart M. Davis
announced. Chief U.S. District Judge B.
Lynn Winmill also ordered that McCandless serve five years of supervised
release after his release from federal prison.
On June 19, 2018, McCandless pleaded guilty to the robbery charge and to
a charge of the use of a firearm during and in relation to a violent crime.
According to court records, on July 23, 2017, at
approximately 2:25 a.m., a black GMC truck arrived at the Sage Hill Casino on
the Fort Hall Indian Reservation. The
truck parked near the front entrance of the casino and a man, later identified
as McCandless, stepped out of the truck. He was carrying a shotgun and a plastic
bag. He went inside the casino,
approached the employee at the teller window, and demanded that the teller
place cash in the bag. McCandless pumped
the shotgun, ejecting a shell onto the floor.
The employee placed cash in the bag and McCandless departed the casino
in his truck. He went northbound on Highway
91 and then southbound on Interstate 15.
A video of the
robbery depicting a unique tattoo on the robbers hand helped investigators
identify McCandless as the perpetrator. Information about the robbery,
including the hand tattoo, was released to the news media and police then began
receiving tips about the identity of the robber. A Bingham County deputy sheriff identified
the robber as McCandless, as did others.
McCandless was stopped in his pickup on Interstate 15 at
about 9:00 p.m. that evening by police and was taken into custody. His truck contained a shotgun with a
sawed-off barrel and cash with markings consistent with money from the Sage
Hill casino. McCandless was interviewed,
waived his rights and admitted robbing the casino.
This case was investigated by Fort Hall Police Department;
Federal Bureau of Investigation; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and
Explosives; Bingham County Sheriff’s Office; Bannock County Sheriff’s Office;
Idaho State Police and Pocatello Police Department.
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