Chicago man gets 20 years for armed bank robberies
A Chicago man was sentenced to 20 years in prison for robbing three banks in Chicago and Evergreen Park at gunpoint, the U.S. attorney’s office said.
Christopher Porter, 53, robbed two Chicago banks and one in Evergreen Park between November 2020 and February 2021, making off with more than $11,300, prosecutors said. In all of robberies, he pointed a gun at tellers and customers.
During the final robbery, at a South Lawndale Fifth Third bank, Porter grabbed a customer at the counter and put them in a headlock before putting a gun to their head and demanding $20,000, according to court documents. He then demanded more money while threatening to shoot the customer if the teller didn’t comply or called police, before throwing the customer to the ground and fleeing.
After a more than month-long trial, Porter was convicted in June 2022. He now faces 20 years in prison and has been ordered to pay back the amount he stole.
“Defendant terrorized innocent bank tellers and customers,” Assistant U.S. Attorneys Thomas P. Peabody and Paige A. Nutini said during sentencing. “His short spree of bank robberies was serious, violent, criminal conduct.”