Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime Alerts (b)
CHICAGO — A federal grand jury has indicted ten defendants, including two sets of brothers, for allegedly conspiring to violently rob armored trucks and automated teller machines in the Chicago suburbs.
Charged with robbery conspiracy and firearm offenses are DEVONTE DAVIS, 27, of Chicago; DARRELL SINGLETON, 19, of Calumet City, Ill., and his two brothers, CORRIE SINGLETON, 22, of South Holland, Ill., and ELIJAH SINGLETON, 21, of Calumet City; ANTHONY WILSON, 22, and his brother, AVEON WILSON, 23, both of Gary, Ind.; BRIAN SNYDER, 24, of Chicago; JUSTIN CAIN, 25, of Chicago; PERRY MAPLE, 21, of Chicago; and WILLIAM COCHRAN, 21, of Chicago.
According to a recently unsealed, second superseding indictment returned in U.S. District Court in Chicago, the robbers brandished firearms in eleven robberies and attempted robberies in 2022 and 2023. The heists and attempted heists occurred in Lansing, Ill., Country Club Hills, Ill., Orland Park, Ill., Homewood, Ill., Blue Island, Ill., and Chicago Heights, Ill., and resulted in a total loss of at least $3.8 million, the indictment states.
One of the robberies occurred on Halloween morning in 2022 when a Brink’s security courier was refilling an ATM in Lansing. Corrie Singleton, Darrell Singleton, and others forcibly dragged the courier into the armored truck at gunpoint and ordered her to open compartments and hand over bags of money, according to a criminal complaint previously filed in the case. Another of the heists occurred on May 2, 2023, when two guards were picking up money from a bank inside of a grocery store in Homewood. One of the robbers struck a guard in the head with a firearm. The robbers took approximately $1.1 million, all of which was recovered by law enforcement upon the arrests of Davis and Darrell Singleton later that day in Calumet Park, Ill., according to a criminal complaint previously filed in the case. Another violent attempted robbery occurred on Oct. 2, 2023, in Country Club Hills, when robbers fired shots at an armored truck guard before carjacking a nearby vehicle to flee the scene, according to a previously filed criminal complaint.
Nine of the ten defendants pleaded not guilty to the superseding charges during arraignments this month in federal court in Chicago. They have been ordered detained in federal custody pending trial. Aveon Wilson is considered a fugitive and a warrant has been issued for his arrest. The FBI has issued a reward of up to $20,000 for information leading to Aveon Wilson’s arrest and conviction.
The indictment was announced by Morris Pasqual, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Robert W. “Wes” Wheeler, Jr., Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI. Substantial assistance was provided by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives in Chicago, Illinois State Police, Cook County Sheriff’s Office, Orland Park Police Department, Evergreen Park, Ill. Police Department, Joliet, Ill. Police Department, Calumet Park Police and Fire Departments, Homewood Police Department, Chicago Police Department, Country Club Hills Police Department, Calumet City Police Department, Dolton, Ill. Police Department, Alsip, Ill. Police Department, and Lansing Police Department. The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Elie Zenner, Kirsten Moran, and Simar Khera.
Holding firearm offenders accountable through federal prosecution is the centerpiece of Project Safe Neighborhoods, a nationwide Department of Justice initiative that brings together law enforcement officials, prosecutors, community leaders, and other stakeholders to develop comprehensive solutions to the most pressing violent crime problems in a community. In the Northern District of Illinois, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and law enforcement partners have deployed the PSN program to attack a broad range of violent crime issues facing the district, particularly firearm offenses.
The public is reminded that an indictment is not evidence of guilt. The defendants are presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.