Casino robber sentenced
Dillon McCandless, 28, of Blackfoot will spend nearly nine years in federal prison for the July 2017 robbery of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes’ Sage Hill Casino.
U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill also sentenced McCandless to serve five years of supervised release after he gets out of prison.
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 in a June 19, 2018 court appearance.
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 showed a unique tattoo on the robber’s hand, which helped investigators identify McCandlesss as the robber.
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.
