A Villa Park man who robbed a Naperville bank and four other financial institutions has been sentenced to more than seven and a half years in federal prison.
Charles Lawler pleaded guilty to holding up the BMO Harris branch at 1795 S. Washington St. on Sept. 22, 2021, according to a U.S. Attorney’s Northern Illinois District Office new release.
Lawler’s sentence, 7.8 years in prison, was handed down Tuesday by U.S. District Judge Robert W. Gettleman.
The FBI reported at the time of the robbery that a man, later identified at Lawler, entered the bank, handed the teller a note and a white garbage bag, and left with an undisclosed amount of cash. Once he exited the building, he jumped a nearby fence and ran into the nearby residential neighborhood, the FBI report said.
Lawler also was convicted of robbing an Old Second Bank in Lisle on Sept. 28, 2021; a Bank Financial in Westmont on Oct. 6, 2021, a BMO Harris Bank in Woodridge on Jan. 3, 2022; and a DuPage Credit Union in Downers Grover on April 14, 2022, the news release said.
Authorities said Lawler partnered on the last four robberies with Tarandle Lee, 45, of Bolingbrook, who drove the getaway car. Both men were arrested in 2023. Lee was convicted by a federal jury in all four cases and is awaiting sentencing, the release said.