Getaway Driver in Lebanon, Illinois Bank Robbery Pleads Guilty

Stephen R. Wiggington, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, announced today that on November 19, 2010, ZACHARY E. RICHEY, age 24, of Lawrenceville, Illinois, pled guilty to one count of aggravated bank robbery, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 2113(a) and (d) (Count 1), and one count of using a firearm in relation to a crime of violence, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 924(c) (Count 3).

The violation occurred on December 19, 2009, when two men, previously convicted codefendants Daniel Ravellette and Donald Long, entered the Regions Bank in Lebanon, Illinois, wearing masks and gloves, and carrying firearms. RICHEY waited outside the bank as a lookout and getaway driver. While committing the robbery, the tellers reported that Ravellete and Long pointed their guns at them while yelling at them to give the robbers their money or the robbers would kill them. Ravellette and Long also threatened to kill the tellers if any one of them hit the alarm. RICHEY, who had been waiting outside, informed Ravellete and Long, via walkie-talkie, that the police were outside. The two men fled the bank via a basement door. Long was captured outside of the bank. Ravellette, however, fled in the vehicle being driven by RICHEY. Ravallette fired several shots at the pursuing O'Fallon Police Officer from the back seat of the vehicle that RICHEY was driving in an effort to avoid arrest.

Count 1, charging aggravated bank robbery, carries with it a penalty of a term of imprisonment of not more than 25 years, a fine of $250,000, or both, and a term of supervised release of not more than five years. Count 3, charging using a firearm in relation to a crime of violence, carries with it a penalty of a term of imprisonment of not less than 10 years to life, to run consecutive to the sentence imposed on Count 1 of the Indictment. Sentencing is scheduled for March 4, 2011, in East St. Louis, Illinois.

The investigation was conducted by the Lebanon Police Department, the O'Fallon Police Department, the St. Clair County Sheriff's Department, the Mascoutah Police Department, the Fairview Heights Police Department, the Shiloh Police Department, the Illinois State Police, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The case was handled by Assistant United States Attorney Angela Scott.