West Bend Man Sentenced to 16 Years and Nine Months for Bank Robberies in Cedarburg and Elkhart Lake

James L. Santelle, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, today announced that Jeffrey S. McCord (age 47), of West Bend, Wisconsin, was sentenced by the Honorable Judge Rudolph T. Randa to 16 years and nine months' imprisonment for his commission of the June 29, 2009, armed robbery of the Commerce State Bank in Cedarburg, Wisconsin, and the April 1, 2010, armed robbery of the National Exchange Bank and Trust in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. In addition to serving a lengthy prison sentence, McCord will be placed on five years of supervised release and be required to pay full restitution to the banks.

During the Commerce State Bank robbery, McCord ordered four bank employees and a bank customer at gunpoint into a room containing the bank vault. After emptying the contents of the vault, McCord placed a device which he described as a bomb near the door of the vault room and told the bank employees and customer that if they opened the door or attempted to leave the vault, the bomb would activate by motion sensor. McCord demanded a bank employee's keys and used her car to flee the bank. The "bomb" appeared even to law enforcement to be an actual explosive device but, in fact, was not.

McCord employed a similar methodology during the robbery of the National Exchange Bank and Trust. He ordered three bank employees at gunpoint into the vault room, emptied the contents of the vault, and again left a device, which he described as a bomb, outside the vault door. The device had a flashing red light and McCord told the employees that it was motion activated. Responding law enforcement officers believed that the "bomb" was real but, in fact, it was not.

In sentencing McCord, Judge Randa noted the aggravated nature of his crimes and the emotional trauma suffered by the bank robbery victims.

The successful prosecution of this case was the result of a joint investigation by several law enforcement agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Cedarburg Police Department, the Elkhart Lake Police Department, and the Sheboygan County Sheriff's Office. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Kelly B. Watzka and Elizabeth M. Blackwood.