Cincinnati man sentenced to 52 years for Hollywood Casino Lawrenceburg robbery
Judge imposes the full term with no time suspended after prosecutors call the 2024 hold-up Indiana’s first prosecuted casino robbery
US.- Judge Aaron Negangard of the Dearborn Circuit Court has sentenced Daniel Birdseye of Cincinnati to 52 years in prison for robbing Hollywood Casino Lawrenceburg at gunpoint and taking an employee hostage in March 2024. In May, a jury had found Birdseye guilty of kidnapping, armed criminal confinement, and three counts of armed intimidation.
Birdseye entered the Penn Entertainment-operated casino in Lawrenceburg, Indiana, on March 2 2024 with a loaded 9mm handgun. Prosecutors said he threatened employees, forced his way into a secured cage and bank area, stole cash and then used an employee as a hostage to leave the building.
Police recovered a loaded handgun, ammunition and stolen cash, much of it still in casino bank wrappers, after a drone located Birdseye hiding in the nearby Oxbow Nature Conservancy. He later admitted the robbery in a recorded interview.
Lynn Deddens, Dearborn and Ohio County prosecutor, said the case is believed to be the first prosecuted casino robbery in Indiana. Deddens said: “What stands out to me about this case is the response of the people who were placed in an incredibly dangerous situation. The employees of Hollywood Casino showed tremendous courage that night and again when they came into court and testified about what happened to them.”
Deddens had previously said that Birdseye was in debt and had lost money gambling at the casino earlier the same day. After the robbery, the casino installed metal detectors at the entrance to the gaming floor.
