46-year-old James D. Williams of Bartlett was sentenced Tuesday for trying to rob several banks in Spring 2018 including the Old Second Bank here in Ottawa.
Williams appeared in US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Since he had a gun and was a convicted felon, he hit the jackpot of a sentence, he received 39 years and 8 months.
The judge also remarked Williams’ showed no remorse or accountability for his actions.
His official path of robberies included two other banks in Gurnee and Aurora before he and an accomplice finally ended up at the Old Second Band between Guion and Post Street on Norris Drive here on May 31st.
His accomplice, 25-year-old Alexis T Handelmann, also of Bartlett pled guilty and is awaiting sentencing.
Also of note, William’s wife Jessica got 2 years for providing her husband with the guns, one of them an AK 47, used in the robberies.
William’s lawyers argued he was being given the equivalent of a death sentence.