Man Sentenced for Five Bank Robberies in Indiana and Missouri

INDIANAPOLIS—George R. Chesnut, 47, formerly of Alton, Ill., was sentenced to 70 months in prison last Friday by U.S. District Judge Henry E. Autrey, of the Eastern District of Missouri following his guilty plea to bank robbery. This case was the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Safe Streets Task Force and the Indiana State Police.

Chesnut was charged by Information with two bank robberies in the Southern District of Indiana on October 21, 2009. The case was then transferred to the Eastern District of Missouri where three other bank robbery charges were pending against Chesnut. Chesnut plead guilty to the Southern District of Indiana bank robberies admitting that on December 5, 2008, he entered the Weston Road branch of the Evansville Federal Credit Union, ordered a teller to give him the credit union’s money and took approximately $5,800 from the credit union. Chesnut also admitted that on March 6, 2009, he entered the West Broadway branch of First Bank in Princeton, Ind., ordered a teller to give him the bank’s money, and took approximately $4,500 from the bank.

According to Assistant U.S. Attorney Todd S. Shellenbarger, who assisted in prosecuting the case for the government with the Eastern District of Missouri, United States Attorney’s Office, Judge Henry also imposed five years supervised release following Chesnut’s release from prison. Chesnut was ordered to pay a $500 special assessment and to make restitution in the amount of $38,562.