Urbana Man To Serve 10 ½ Years For Bank Robberies

Urbana, Ill. – An Urbana, Ill., man, Willie B. Franklin, Jr., 38, has been ordered to serve
125 months (10 years, 5 months) in prison for robberies committed in December 2012 of four
banks in central Illinois and one bank in southern Iowa. Yesterday, May 27, U.S. District Judge
Michael P. McCuskey further ordered that Franklin pay restitution in a total amount over
$46,000.

According to court documents filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, in mid-May, the U.S.
Attorney’s Office received an anonymous letter with information that Franklin had received
inheritance money. Upon investigation, authorities confirmed that Franklin had inherited money
after his father died in March 2014. On May 19, U.S. District Judge Michael P. McCuskey
issued a court order that any inheritance Franklin received, up to the value of restitution owed, be
turned over to the Clerk of the Court.

Franklin pled guilty on Jan. 31, 2014, to committing five bank robberies in December
2012: on Dec. 3, 2012, Main Source Bank, Kankakee County; on Dec. 5, 2012, PNC Bank,
Peoria County; on Dec. 20, 2012, Homestar Bank and Financial Services, Kankakee County; on
Dec. 26, 2012, First Mid-Il Bank and Trust, Adams County; and, on Dec. 17, 2012, US Bank in
southern Iowa.

Franklin was arrested on Jan. 28, 2013, in the Middle District of Florida and appeared in
federal court in Tampa, Fl., prior to being transferred to the Central District of Illinois. Franklin
has remained in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service since his arrest.

The investigation was conducted by the FBI, the Urbana Police Department, the Quincy
Police Department, the Peoria Police Department, the Decatur Police Department, the Manteno
Police Department, and the Iowa City Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason M.
Bohm prosecuted the case.