Francisco Martinez walked into a First Midwest Bank branch in Round Lake, Illinois, on December 20, 2021, and handed the teller a folded piece of paper that read, “40k, 30 seconds, no tricks, go now.”
Martinez then raised his shirt, revealing what appeared to be the handle of a firearm hidden in his waistband.
Martinez briefly grabbed a customer and threatened to take her away from the bank.
Before Martinez fled the bank, the teller gave him cash in response to his demands.
Martinez, 32, of Des Plaines, Illinois, was arrested in June 2022 and has been in police custody since then. Martinez committed the robbery while on court-supervised release for a previous bank robbery conviction.
On Monday, a jury in U.S. District Court in Chicago convicted him of one count of bank robbery, punishable by up to 20 years in federal prison.
U.S. District Judge Steven C. Seeger scheduled the sentencing for August 29, 2025.
Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the FBI’s Chicago Field Office, jointly announced the conviction.
The Round Lake Beach, Illinois Police Department and the Lake County Sheriff’s Office both provided substantial assistance. Jimmy Arce, Adam L. Rosenbloom, and Caitlin S. Walgamuth, Assistant United States Attorneys, represented the government.
