Duluth Man Sentenced for Home Invasion Assault, Armed Robbery

A Duluth man convicted of a home invasion burglary in which he assaulted a woman, as well as committing the armed robbery of a sandwich shop and another burglary received a 13-year, 4-month prison sentence Thursday.

Tommy Ray Morgan Sr., 28, was sentenced by Judge Theresa Neo in St. Louis County Court.

In May of last year, Morgan invaded a woman’s home as she slept, assaulted her with a glass vase and stole jewelry, among other items.

He committed a second burglary that month.

Less than a month earlier, Morgan held up a Subway restaurant at gunpoint.

A St. Louis County jury in March found Morgan guilty of all seven crimes he was accused of committing in connection with the home invasion case — first-degree assault, first-degree aggravated robbery, first-degree burglary, three counts of financial credit card fraud for using the woman’s stolen credit card, and possession of a controlled substance.

St. Louis County prosecutor Jon Holets had filed a pre-trial motion in the home invasion case seeking an enhanced sentence based on the aggravating factor that the crimes were committed in the victim’s zone of privacy.

The jury needed only 20 minutes to decide an enhanced sentence was warranted.

The statutory maximum sentence for each of the three most serious crimes Morgan was convicted of in the home invasion case was 20 years in prison, which could have been imposed consecutively.

Holets asked the court Thursday to sentence Morgan to 30 years in prison.

“The victim came into the courtroom and courageously told the court how the defendant’s actions forever altered her life,” Holets said after the hearing. “We’re pleased that justice was done, but the sentence was far short of what we thought he deserved.”

After jurors found the defendant guilty in the home invasion case, Morgan entered guilty pleas in the two other cases against him.