Chicago Bank Robber Sentenced to Nine Years in Federal Prison

CHICAGO - A man has been sentenced to nine years in federal prison for robbing a downtown Chicago bank.

REGINALD DEBERRY and a co-defendant, IESHA BATCHELOR, robbed a Fifth Third Bank branch in Chicago's Loop neighborhood on Nov. 22, 2019. Deberry served as a lookout near the bank's entrance while Batchelor approached the teller, and, drawing on coaching from Deberry about what to say, said, "I want all the money… no one will get hurt." After receiving cash, Deberry and Batchelor fled from the area and divided the proceeds.

At the time of the robbery, Deberry was serving a term of court-supervised release for two prior federal bank robbery convictions.

Deberry, 60, of Chicago, pleaded guilty earlier this year to one count of bank robbery. U.S. District Judge Sara L. Ellis imposed the sentence Tuesday after a hearing in federal court in Chicago.

Batchelor, 31, of Chicago, also pleaded guilty to a bank robbery charge. She was sentenced in March to a year in prison.

The sentences were announced by Morris Pasqual, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Robert W. "Wes" Wheeler, Jr., Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI, and Fred Waller, Interim Superintendent of the Chicago Police Department.

"The defendant has shown himself to be a recalcitrant outlier who has engaged in a remarkably consistent pattern of violent offenses throughout his adult life," Assistant U.S. Attorney David Green argued in the government's sentencing memorandum.