Coles County Man to Serve 22 Years in Prison for Armed Robbery of Team Wireless Store

URBANA, Ill. – U.S. District Judge Michael M. Mihm has sentenced Alfred E. Jerry, 28, of Charleston, Ill., to 22 years in prison for the May 2, 2019, armed robbery of the Team Wireless store in Charleston, Ill. Jerry was sentenced on Feb. 11, 2020.

Jerry pleaded guilty on Sept. 30, 2019, to all three counts as charged in the indictment, including obstructing commerce by robbery, brandishing a firearm in furtherance of robbery, and possession of a firearm by a felon. The charges stem from Jerry’s May 2, 2019, robbery of the Team Wireless store located on Woodfall Drive in Charleston, Ill., which was recorded by the store’s security system.

The security recording, which was played at Jerry’s sentencing, showed a masked man wielding a revolver enter the store and order its two employees into a back room. The gunman threatened to shoot the employees if they did not comply. After the employees filled a trash bin with merchandise, the gunman took cash and keys from one of the employees. After more than five minutes in the store, the gunman left through the back door with the stolen merchandise and keys.

Police officers with the Charleston Police Department and the Eastern Illinois University Police Department arrested Jerry minutes after the robbery as he fled on foot. Police recovered a loaded revolver, stolen merchandise, and a ski mask containing DNA evidence linking Jerry to the robbery nearby.

Jerry has remained in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service since his arrest on May 2, 2019.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Charleston Police Department, the Eastern Illinois University Police Department, and the Coles County Sheriff’s Office, collaborated in the investigation. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan Finlen.