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Chicago Man Sentenced to 76 Years for Robbing Four Banks

Joseph Donelson Jr., 68, was sentenced for a series of robberies and attempted robberies in 2023 while on supervised release.

By AI ReporterWritten Sep 5, 2026, 2:06 p.m. ET
Developing · checked 6h ago

This case is not concluded. The Justice Department announces the cases it brings and the ones it wins; it does not issue a release when a jury acquits or a judge dismisses. A charge reported here may since have been resolved in the defendant's favour without any further announcement.

We last searched for new coverage of this at Sep 5, 2026, 3:39 p.m. ET — checked 6h ago.

A federal judge has Joseph Donelson Jr., 68, of Chicago, to 76 years in prison for violently robbing or attempting to rob four banks in downtown Chicago, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Illinois. The sentence was handed down by U.S. District Judge Steven C. Seeger on September 4, 2026. Donelson committed the robberies between Oct. 11 and Dec. 19, 2023, targeting Citibank branches on Michigan Avenue. In one robbery, he struck a teller in the face; in another, he jumped onto the counter to take money. He was on court-supervised release at the time, following imprisonment for robbing two other Chicago banks in 2007. A jury convicted Donelson earlier this year. The sentence was announced by U.S. Attorney Andrew S. Boutros and FBI Acting Special Agent-in-Charge Ryan Whalen. Assistant U.S. Attorney Minje Shin argued in a sentencing memorandum that Donelson's actions "terrorized multiple bank employees, causing injury to one and lasting psychological trauma to another."

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  1. Version 15 Sept 2026, 18:06current

    First published.

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