An elderly man was sentenced after being convicted for many bank robberies in the Chicago area.
Donald Bennett, aged 85, was convicted by a jury in February 2025 on eight of nine counts related to the crimes.
The heist took place at a Chase Bank in Hickory Hills the prior year. The FBI shared this snapshot of the heist at the time.
Bennett was freed in 2020 after serving 31 years in jail for bank robbery.
The FBI apprehended Donald Bennett and Edward Binert following a bank robbery on Valentine’s Day, 2024.
Bennett was previously convicted in 1989 of committing several bank robberies in the Chicago region. He was also convicted of assault with a dangerous weapon in Kentucky in 1967.
Bennett was freed from prison in 2020 after completing a 31-year term, according to the FBI.
According to an FBI complaint, Bennett and Binert met while doing time in a federal prison.
Binert pleaded guilty in October 2024. He’ll be sentenced next week.
The first two bank robberies occurred on June 27 and August 25 in Oak Lawn, followed by a heist on November 1 in Lombard. Then, on November 29, a bank heist occurred in Willowbrook, followed by another on December 1, in Tinley Park. On January 26, a bank heist occurred in Glen Ellyn.
The final theft that led to the alleged duo’s downfall was a Valentine’s Day heist on February 14 in Hickory Hills, during which the robbers wore phony wigs and face masks. Bennett was detained Thursday and is scheduled for a detention hearing on February 22 at 1:30 p.m.
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