Former USD Women's Basketball Star Sentenced in Camp Pendleton Theft Series

SAN DIEGO, CA: An Oceanside woman who excelled at basketball and was at one time a WNBA draft prospect will instead be spending 90 days on house arrest, doing three years probation and paying more than $11,000 in restitution because of an alleged gambling addiction, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in San Diego.

That was the sentence handed to former University of San Diego women’s basketball star Dominique Conners, 26, on Monday in a series of thefts authorities believe she committed on Camp Pendleton.

Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Kathleen J. O’Hara said Conners, a graduate of La Jolla Country Day School, had turned to stealing to support her addiction.

According to court documents and other admissions, Conners’ thefts at Camp Pendleton began shortly after she returned to the U.S. from playing professional basketball in the Czech Republic in 2013-2014. Records showed that Conners was gambling several thousand dollars a week, prosecutors said, and that she had access to Camp Pendleton because her father is a retired Marine.

As part of her sentence, U.S. District Judge Michael M. Anello ordered Conners to pay $11,779 in restitution for stealing the wedding gifts of a newly married couple who were staying at a beach cottage at the Del Mar Beach Resort on Camp Pendleton.

According to O’Hara, the newlyweds had more than $11,000 in cash gifts in their beach cottage. Shoe prints were found on a window sill of the cottage and a forensic analysis of Conners’ shoes matched her to the crime scene.

“I felt violated and the false sense of security (on a military installation) was overwhelming,” one of the victims said.

The other victim said: “She stole a large sum of money from us. Money that was to help start our new life together after we got married.”

Conners did not immediately respond Monday to a request for comment.

The Marine Corps Criminal Investigations Division, which conducted the investigation, also linked her to several vehicle thefts. In those cases, Conners purportedly stole cash and gift cards from unlocked vehicles at the beach, but left the wallets and other personal items behind, prosecutors said.

Conners was ordered to pay restitution for those thefts, as well.

When the 5-foot-8-inch point guard was initially arraigned for the crimes in November 2015, she was ordered to attend counseling for her alleged gambling addiction.

(Images via Shutterstock and Usdtoreros.com)