ALBUQUERQUE - Jerrileta Singer, 32, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation who resides in Shiprock, N.M., pleaded guilty this morning to committing a robbery in Indian Country under a plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Singer and her co-defendant, Eddie Shirley, 28, a Navajo man from Shiprock, were charged in Dec. 2012, with the armed robbery of a Sonic Drive-In Restaurant in Shiprock on Nov. 30, 2012. The two were then indicted and charged with (1) robbery, and (2) using and brandishing a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence.
During today’s plea hearing, Singer pleaded guilty to the robbery charge and admitted her role in robbing four individuals in the restaurant by use of force, violence and intimidation and taking money belonging to the restaurant. At sentencing, Singer faces a maximum of 15 years in prison.
Shirley, Singer’s co-defendant, entered a guilty plea on June 25, 2013, to Count 2 of the indictment and admitted using a firearm to rob the Sonic Drive-In in Shiprock on Nov. 30, 2012. Shirley has been in federal custody since his arrest and remains detained pending his sentencing hearing, which is scheduled for Sept. 23, 2013. Under the terms of his plea agreement, Shirley will be sentenced to not less than seven years in prison.
This case was investigated by Farmington office of the FBI and the Shiprock office of the Navajo Nation Division of Public Safety, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Novaline D. Wilson.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
