Man staying in Arkansas under immigrant program gets 5 years for home invasion, operating gambling house

Singh
Singh

A former Arkansas store manager staying in the U.S. under a program that shields young, undocumented immigrants from deportation has been sentenced to five years in prison on charges stemming from illegal gambling at his business and a home invasion.

The Sentinel-Record in Hot Springs reported that Sunny Ghotra Singh, 25, appeared Monday in Garland County Circuit Court, where he entered a guilty plea on counts of residential burglary and keeping a gambling house. He was sentenced to five years on each charge, with the terms to run concurrently.

Singh, a native of India, is in federal custody on accusations that he violated his status with the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program by possessing firearms, according to the newspaper.

On Dec. 4, Singh was reportedly involved in a home invasion robbery in which a TV was taken from a woman and her husband who live on Ninth Street in Mountain Pine.

The two told authorities that they peered out the window to find a white male assailant standing outside. Two other people kicked in the home's front door soon after and entered, with a black robber armed with a gun hitting the women.

An Indian man, identified by both victims as Singh, was armed with a shotgun and began hitting the husband, demanding money that the victim reportedly "owed him," according to an affidavit.

The robbers took the television from the pair after the couple said they did not have money or pills.

That same day, Singh shot at a burglar who was reportedly trying to take money from the cash register at Mountain Pine Corner Store, 2702 Mountain Pine Road in Mountain Pine, authorities said.

After a controlled purchase of drugs was reportedly made from Singh at the store, the Drug Task Force, along with other agencies, executed a search warrant Jan. 31 at the convenience store. Singh was arrested shortly after.

The newspaper reported that found inside the Mountain Pine Corner Store were about 164 grams of marijuana, multiple devices related to smoking, $26,389.40 in cash, three working gambling machines, 15 surveillance cameras and four firearms.

Read the full story in the Sentinel-Record here.

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