Prosecutors on Monday added financial fraud charges to the mix for a Duluth man accused of robbing a Subway restaurant and then assaulting a woman during a home invasion just weeks later while he was out of jail on pretrial supervised release.
Tommy Ray Morgan, 28, appeared in State District Court in Duluth on five separate criminal cases on Monday. He is now charged with a total of nine felonies and three misdemeanors.
Despite a request for an extension from the defense, a judge ruled Monday that Morgan will go to trial on Nov. 18.
Morgan allegedly robbed the Subway restaurant in Duluth’s Lincoln Park neighborhood at gunpoint on April 25. Police tracked his footprints in fresh snow to find and arrest him, and he subsequently was granted pretrial release. About three weeks later, on May 18, he was arrested again, this time accused of breaking into a Lincoln Park residence, smashing a glass vase over a woman’s head and running off with a credit card, cellphone and jewelry.
Data from Morgan’s GPS monitoring ankle bracelet reportedly placed Morgan in the woman’s home the night of the burglary, police said.
Morgan was charged with first-degree aggravated robbery in the Subway incident, and first-degree assault, first-degree aggravated robbery and first-degree burglary in the alleged home invasion.
On Monday, prosecutors added three counts of financial transaction card fraud and one count of fifth-degree possession of a controlled substance to the home invasion case.
The amended complaint alleges that Morgan unsuccessfully attempted to use the home invasion victim’s stolen credit card to withdraw cash from an ATM. Morgan attempted to withdraw $4,000, $400 and $160 from Park State Bank, the complaint states.
When arrested, he was found to be in possession of approximately 1 gram of heroin, according to the complaint.
At a pretrial hearing Monday, public defender Brian Malvick asked the court to allow Morgan to withdraw the speedy trial demand he made on Oct. 20. Malvick cited the amended complaint and said that there is evidence he still has not received.
Additionally, Malvick said that prosecutor Jon Holets, who was not at the hearing, was still considering additional charges.
Prosecutor Kristen Swanson, who handled the case for Holets, opposed the request, stating that her colleague has already made arrangements with more than 20 witnesses expected to testify at trial, and argued that the state has the right to amend a complaint at any time.
Judge Theresa Neo denied the extension request, keeping in place the Nov. 18 trial date. Neo is slated to preside over the trial.
