Isaiah Snell gets sentence for 2019 crime

Rhode Island Superior Court Justice Maureen B. Keough has sentenced Isaiah Snell, 27, to four years in a state prison for the 2019 assault and robbery of a 62-year-old at Twin River Casino in the Rhode Island town of Lincoln.

Rhode Island Attorney General Peter F. Neronha took to Twitter on June 29 to announce the Connecticut man’s jail sentence following his June 23 hearing:

Justice Keough’s full sentence for Snell was eight years at an Adult Correctional Institutions (ACI), of which he will serve four years with the rest of the sentence suspended with probation.

According to a State of Rhode Island official government press release, Snell pleaded nolo contendere to one count apiece of assault and first degree robbery “on a person over 60, causing bodily injury.”

The sentence handed out at the hearing at Providence County Superior Court included an order that Snell must pay the victim $1,500 and also receive substance abuse counseling.

No mercy for targeting 62-year-old

Prosecutors said Snell targeted the victim after watching the 62-year-old “count a large amount of money” on the Twin River casino floor on December 19, 2019.

trailed the man into the parking lot, “yelled that he had a gun”, and demanded the casino patron’s money

Snell then trailed the man into the parking lot, “yelled that he had a gun”, and demanded the casino patron’s money. When the older man tried to escape, Snell punched him onto the ground. The victim then gave Snell $1,500, after which the latter ran off.

Prosecutors said the Lincoln Police Department tracked Snell down after watching surveillance video footage.

AG Neronha said that state law was in place to protect older residents and that penalties for assaulting the over 60s “are increased”. He confirmed that Snell’s “significant sentence […] reflects this,” adding: “Every Rhode Islander should feel safe […] whether it be in their homes or as a patron of local businesses.”

Casino parking lots are crime hotspots

The Twin River Rhode Island incident is another in a long line of crimes perpetrated in casino parking lots across the US.

A recent example is The Mill Casino Hotel and RV Park in North Bend, Oregon, where a triple murder suspect allegedly killed his father and fatally ran over a 74-year-old man on June 18.

In Arizona, a man is facing charges of first-degree murder and aggravated assault after he allegedly fatally gunned down a man in April. The scene of the crime was the parking structure of the Gila River Hotels & Casinos – Wild Horse Pass in Chandler.