Steven Warren Robert Anishnabie, 21, of Grand Portage, was arrested on May 15, 2013 after allegedly attacking a security guard at Grand Portage Lodge & Casino. Anishnabie was charged with two felonies, attempted murder in the first degree and assault in the first degree with great bodily harm. He was sentenced on April 23, 2014.
According to the Cook County Law Enforcement complaint, the attack occurred near the security podium in the casino. A security guard, Rollin Baird, was stabbed in the neck with a knife. Baird was taken to Cook County North Shore Hospital by Grand Portage Ambulance. He was transferred to Essentia – St. Mary’s Hospital where he was treated and released.
According to the complaint, Anishnabie left the casino after the attack, but returned shortly after and surrendered a knife to another security guard. Cook County Sheriff ’s Deputies responded and Anishnabie was taken into custody. He was found to have a blood alcohol concentration of .17.
Anishnabie pled guilty to the charge of assault in the first degree with great bodily harm on December 23, 2013 and was sentenced on April 23, 2014. The charge of attempted murder was dismissed.
The sentence given is a departure from the Minnesota sentencing guidelines presumptive sentence, a reduction requested by his attorneys Mikkel Long and David Keegen.
“Mr. Anishnabie’s clear amenability to probation dictates in favor of a probationary sentence,” wrote his attorneys who added that his guilty plea early in proceedings, as well as his “acceptance of responsibility, cooperation, and expressions of remorse all support a departure…”
They agreed to a sentence of 103 months at the Minnesota Correction Facility in St. Cloud, stayed for 10 years on the condition that Anishnabie be confined for one year at the North East Regional Correction Center (NERCC) and must abide by a number of probation conditions.
Anishnabie’s attorneys noted, “In the extremely unlikely event that Mr. Anishnabie does not respond appropriately while on probation, the court retains the ability to execute a previously stayed sentence…”
The departure from sentencing guidelines was agreed to by Attorney
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