Indian pleads guilty to felony charges

HOT SPRINGS, AK — Former convenient store owner Sunny Ghotra Singh on September 18 pleaded guilty to felony charges stemming from a 2016 home invasion incident and illegal gambling operation at his store in Arkansas.

Singh (25), who is in the US as part of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, pleaded guilty to residential burglary and keeping a gambling house and was sentenced to five years in prison on each count, to run concurrently.

Additional charges the Indian American faced, including aggravated robbery and possession of a controlled substance, marijuana, with purpose to deliver, were withdrawn.

The prosecutor said Singh is facing time in federal prison and then will be deported back to his native India.

It was Singh’s DACA status that caught the attention of investigators with Homeland Security and the 18th Judicial District East Drug Task Force (DTF) after Singh reportedly shot a burglar allegedly trying to take money from the register at the Mountain Pine Corner Store on December 4, 2016.

Singh was not charged in connection with the shooting, but under the DACA program he is not allowed to possess a firearm.

The DTF searched the store on January 31, assisted by sheriff’s investigators, Homeland Security, Arkansas State Police, Hot Springs police and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.

Authorities arrested Singh inside the store, where they found 163.9 grams of marijuana, four sets of digital scales, 33 glass smoking devices, three bong pipes and four firearms, as well as $26,389.40 in cash, 15 surveillance cameras, located inside and outside of the store, and a DVR system.

Singh admitted the marijuana, guns and smoking devices found in the store belonged to him and that he had hidden the smoking devices in the vent.