An elderly man has been found guilty of several bank robberies in the Chicago area. Donald Bennett, 83, and Edward Binert, 55, were apprehended by the FBI following a bank robbery on Valentine’s Day in 2024.
Nearly a year after their arrest, a jury convicted Bennett on eight out of nine charges related to these offenses.
Bennett had previously been sentenced in 1989 for multiple bank robberies in the Chicago region. He was also convicted in 1967 in Kentucky for an assault involving a deadly weapon. After serving a 31-year sentence, Bennett was released in 2020, according to the FBI.
An FBI report indicates that Bennett and Binert became acquainted while serving their sentences in federal prison. Binert entered a guilty plea in October of the previous year and has not yet been sentenced.
Bennett’s case is scheduled to return to court in July 2025.
The first two bank robberies occurred in Oak Lawn on June 27 and August 25, followed by a theft in Lombard on November 1. There was another bank robbery in Willowbrook on November 29 and one more in Tinley Park on December 1.
The new year began with a bank robbery in Glen Ellyn on January 26.
The final robbery that led to Bennett and Binert’s capture occurred on Valentine’s Day, February 14, in Hickory Hills. The robbers wore fake wigs and face coverings. Bennett was arrested on Thursday and awaits a detention hearing scheduled for 1:30 p.m. on February 22.
