Illinois man robbed two banks while on court-supervised release for two other bank heists

An Illinois man was found guilty last week of robbing two banks last year, heists that were committed while he was on supervised release for committing two other bank robberies, authorities said. 

Demontrion Deshan Phillips, 28, stole $5,930 during an April 27, 2021, from the Midland States Bank in Rockford, and another $4,408 in a robbery of Midland States Bank in Belvidere weeks later, the Justice Department said Tuesday.

He was convicted of four counts of bank robbery after a four-day trial.

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Federal prosecutors said Phillips posed as a customer and handed the tellers a deposit slip and announced he was robbing the bank. 

In the Belvidere robbery, he threatened a teller by saying, “Don’t make me come over the counter,” after he wasn’t given as much money as he demanded, prosecutors said. 

Three days after that heist, law enforcement searched his Rockford home and found $5,090 in cash hidden in a sock.

The cash included numerous bills identified by serial numbers as having been stolen from the banks during the two heists, authorities said.

The robberies were committed while Phillips was on court-supervised release following a federal conviction for two 2017 bank robberies in Rockford. 

He is scheduled to be sentenced on March 16, 2023. He faces up to 40 years in prison and $500,000 in fines, in addition to court-ordered restitution.