Third Defendant Sentenced To More Than 20 Years In Prison For Armed Robbery Of Kankakee Credit Union

Urbana, Ill. – Today, Chief U.S. District Judge James E. Shadid sentenced Brian O. Williams, 37, of the 700 block of Webster Circle West, Kankakee, Ill., to prison for the June 2009 robbery of the Shapiro Developmental Center Employees Credit Union (SDCECU) in Kankakee. Judge Shadid ordered Williams to serve 20 years and 9 months in the federal Bureau of Prisons, followed by five years of supervised release. In addition, Williams was ordered to pay restitution to the bank in the amount of $284,218.  Williams has remained in law enforcement custody since his arrest in September 2012 in Ohio.

Williams pled guilty on April 17, 2013, to one count of aggravated bank robbery and one count of brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence. Williams admitted that, on June 16, 2009, James Williams drove him and Frank C. Black to the credit union to commit the robbery. Brian Williams and Black entered the credit union wearing masks and gloves and armed with handguns. They jumped the counter, brandished their guns, threatened to shoot the credit union employees, and demanded access to the cash drawers and the credit union’s vault. The employees of the credit union complied with their demands. The men took $276,010 from the drawers and vaults, put it into bags they had brought with them, and left the credit union. The three men then got back into James Williams’ vehicle, drove to a residence, and split the money.

Brian Williams was ordered to serve 13 years and 9 months for the aggravated bank robbery, plus a consecutive seven-year sentence for brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence. U.S. District Judge Michael P. McCuskey previously sentenced Black to 70 months (5 years, 10 months) in prison for his role in the credit union robbery. James Williams was previously ordered to serve 87 months (7 years, 3 months) in prison.

The Kankakee Area Project Safe Neighborhoods Task Force, which includes the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and the Kankakee Police Department, conducted the case investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Eugene L. Miller prosecuted the case.

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