Collinsville Man Sentenced To Prison For Two Bank Robberies

Steve M. Dodson, 45, of Collinsville, was sentenced today in the U.S. District Court to 78 months in prison on two counts of Conspiracy to Commit Bank Robbery and two counts of Bank Robbery in connection with the robbery of Fairmount Village Credit Union in September 2012 and the robbery of Scott Credit Union in May 2013, Stephen R. Wigginton, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois has announced. Following his prison sentence, Dodson will be on federal supervised release for 3 years. Dodson was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $112,933. Dodson has been in custody since June 23, 2014.

Documents filed in U.S. District Court establish that on September 19, 2012, Dodson’s co-conspirator, William Hunter, entered the Fairmount Village Credit Union in Fairmount City, Illinois wearing a bandana covering his face, threated the teller, and demanded money. The teller placed $11,401 in a brown bag and Hunter left the credit union. Investigation revealed that prior to the robbery of the Fairmount Village Credit Union, Dodson agreed to make, and did make, a false 911 call for the purposes of diverting police resources away from the bank robbery. Dodson received fifty-percent of the proceeds for his participation in the robbery. The documents filed in Court also show that on May 24, 2013, two employees of Scott Credit Union in O’Fallon, Illinois were filling the outside ATM with money when Dodson approached them wearing a flesh-colored mask and told them he had a gun. Dodson demanded that they step away from the money at which time he took the three containers of U.S. currency and fled on foot. Dodson was picked up a short distance from the Scott Credit Union by his wife, Denise Dodson, who has also been charged with the bank robbery. Dodson and his wife obtained $100,000 from the robbery of Scott Credit Union.

Hunter had previously pleaded guilty in a companion state-court prosecution.

As to Denise Dodson, her case is pending, thus she is presumed innocent of the charges unless or until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

The case was investigated by the O’Fallon Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Ali Summers.