Federal prosecutors want a judge to send Charlotte ICE protester Heather Morrow to prison for eight months, following her conviction on four federal crimes tied to a demonstration outside the agency's Charlotte office. Morrow is scheduled to be sentenced on November 13.
According to WSOC-TV, prosecutors will formally ask the judge to impose the eight-month prison term at next week's hearing. Morrow and co-defendant William Stanley were arrested during a protest outside the immigration office.
A federal jury convicted Morrow in September 2026 of four crimes, including obstructing the entrance of federal property and assaulting, resisting and intimidating law enforcement during official duties, per the seed reporting. Stanley was found guilty of three of the four charges in the same trial. As reported by WFAE, the jury found both Stanley and Morrow guilty of obstructing entrances and disrupting work at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Charlotte office.
What Prosecutors Say Happened at the ICE Office
Prosecutors told the court that Stanley, Morrow and other protesters placed cones in the ICE office driveway and formed a human chain that blocked deportation officers from entering the property, WFAE reports. Morrow was also accused of blocking an exit lane with her vehicle. She was convicted of interfering with a federal officer after prosecutors said she grabbed an officer's shoulder as he tried to arrest Stanley.
Video shown in the case depicted Morrow and other protesters blocking the entrance of the ICE office. A separate account from The Charlotte Observer says Morrow's original felony charge was dropped after video contradicted officials' earlier account that she had jumped on an officer's back. That outlet also reported the pair were arrested during a five-person protest outside the immigration office.
Other Similar Cases Were Dropped
The Observer has also reported that U.S. Attorney Russ Ferguson dropped other similar federal assault cases brought against Charlotte residents, while keeping the cases against Morrow and Stanley moving forward. Prosecutors have not disclosed, in the material reviewed, why those two cases were treated differently from the others that were dismissed.
Stanley's separately handled sentencing offers a point of comparison for this case.
Stanley's sentencing, handled separately, gives an early look at how the same judge has approached punishment for this case. He was sentenced in October 2026 to a year of probation and ordered to pay a $1,000 fine, a term a U.S. Department of Justice release describes as one year of probation and a $1,000 fine, with the excerpt also noting he was ordered to complete community service.
Getting to that outcome involved sharply divergent requests. Ahead of Stanley's hearing, the Observer reported that prosecutors proposed, as one option, a year of probation, 100 hours of community service and a $1,000 fine, while separately recommending the judge instead sentence the 26-year-old to “one weekend,” or 48 hours, in prison. Stanley's attorneys pushed back, asking for just three months of probation and a $500 fine with no jail time at all.
How those competing positions factor into the eight-month prison term prosecutors are now seeking for Morrow is not addressed in the available reporting. A Justice Department announcement separately noted that Morrow was initially charged in a criminal complaint with felony assault, resisting or impeding a federal officer, describing the charge as announced rather than a finding of guilt on that specific felony count.
Morrow's sentencing hearing is set for November 13, when a federal judge will decide whether to grant prosecutors' request or impose a different term.
