Shiprock Man Sentenced to Seven Years for Using a Firearm in Connection with Robbery on the Navajo Indian Reservation
Defendant Brandished a Firearm While Robbing the Sonic Drive-In in Shiprock in November 2012

ALBUQUERQUE—Eddie Shirley, 28, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation who resides in Shiprock, New Mexico, was sentenced this morning to seven years in federal prison for using and brandishing a firearm in relation to a crime of violence on the Navajo Indian Reservation. Shirley will be on supervised release for seven years after he completes his prison sentence.

Shirley was arrested in December 2012 on a criminal complaint charging him and co-defendant Jerrileta Singer, 32, with the armed robbery of a Sonic Drive-In Restaurant in Shiprock on November 30, 2012. He has been in federal custody since his arrest. Singer subsequently was arrested in January 2013. The two were then indicted and charged with robbery and using and brandishing a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence.

Shirley pleaded guilty on June 25, 2013 to count two of the indictment and admitted using a firearm to rob the Sonic Drive-In in Shiprock on November 30, 2012. Shirley acknowledged that a female participated in the robbery and that together they used force, intimidation, and violence to take money from the restaurant’s employees.

On July 25, 2013, Singer pleaded guilty to count one, the robbery charge, of the indictment 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. Singer faces a maximum of 15 years in prison when she is sentenced. Her sentencing hearing is scheduled for October 28, 2103.

This case was investigated by Farmington Office of the FBI and the Shiprock Office of the Navajo Nation Division of Public Safety, and it is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Novaline D. Wilson.