Chicago Man Charged with Participating in Des Plaines Bank Robbery

CHICAGO — A Chicago man was charged today in federal court with participating in the robbery of a Des Plaines bank earlier this week.

MAURICE MURPHY, 32, is charged with one count of bank robbery in connection with the Tuesday afternoon heist at Bank of America, 1300 E. Oakton St., Des Plaines.  A detention hearing is scheduled for Monday at 3:00 p.m. before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeffrey Cole.

The federal charge was announced by John R. Lausch, Jr., United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; Emmerson Buie, Jr., Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago office of the FBI; and William Kushner, Chief of the Des Plaines Police Department.  The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ashley A. Chung.

According to a criminal complaint and affidavit filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago, Murphy aided and abetted the robbery by acting as a getaway driver.  Another individual entered the bank, pointed a gun at a teller, and demanded money, the complaint states.  The robber fled the bank and departed the area in a vehicle driven by Murphy, the complaint states.

Murphy was arrested in Des Plaines shortly after the robbery.  The other individual involved in the robbery was fatally shot during an encounter with law enforcement in Chicago later that day, the complaint states.

The public is reminded that a complaint is not evidence of guilt.  The defendant is presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.  The robbery charge is punishable by up to 20 years in prison.  If convicted, the Court must impose a reasonable sentence under federal statutes and the advisory U.S. Sentencing Guidelines.