Man On Supervised Release for Bank Robbery Pleads Guilty to Brandishing a Gun During Another Bank Robbery

On April 27, 2018, Marcus J. Thornton, 37, of Edwardsville, Illinois, pled guilty in federal district court to brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, Donald S. Boyce, announced today. Thornton’s guilty plea to the gun charge comes on the heels of his March 22 guilty plea to two bank robberies, which were charged in the same indictment.

Court proceedings revealed that on October 13, 2016, Thornton entered a Regions Bank in Lebanon, Illinois, and demanded money from bank tellers. Thornton took a total of $13,710.90 in U.S. currency before fleeing in a vehicle. Court proceedings further revealed that on February 9, 2017, Thornton entered a U.S. Bank in O’Fallon, Illinois, and demanded money from bank tellers while brandishing a silver and black semi-automatic handgun. Thornton made off with $10,720 on that occasion. In his guilty plea earlier today, Thornton admitted to his use of the handgun in connection with the second robbery.

Thornton was previously convicted in 2009 of bank robbery in Mississippi and was on federal supervised release when he committed both of the robberies described above.

Sentencing is currently scheduled for July 27, 2018. On the gun charge alone, Thornton faces a prison term of at least seven years and as much as life imprisonment, a fine of up to

$750,000, and a minimum of five years on supervised release. He may also be ordered to make restitution for his offenses.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. Attorney General Jeff Sessions reinvigorated PSN in 2017 as part of the Department’s renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally-based strategies to reduce violent crime. This case is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Illinois Statement Police, Lebanon and O’Fallon Police Departments, and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Daniel T. Kapsak and James G. Piper, Jr.