South Elgin bank robber gets three-year prison term

A former Cook County correctional officer was sentenced this week to three years in prison on charges she robbed a pair of South Elgin banks in December.

Denise Hampton-Houser, 42, also must pay $9,470 restitution to the banks and undergo a mental health evaluation under the sentence issued by U.S. District Court Judge Amy St. Eve.

Hampton-Houser, of South Elgin, pleaded guilty in April to two counts of bank robbery stemming from holdups Dec. 5 at State Bank, 1140 W. Spring St., and Dec. 23 at Amcore Bank, 564 Randall Road.

In each case, court documents state, Hampton-Houser walked into the bank and presented a teller with a note demanding money and directing the teller not to call police.

"Put all the money in the bag, don't do anything or I will shoot," the note handed to the State Bank teller read, authorities said.

No weapon was shown in either robbery, court records indicate.

Hampton-Houser was arrested in January after, police said, a tip from a resident led investigators to her home.

According to documents filed by her attorney, Hampton-Houser used some of the robbery proceeds to pay off her mounting debts and buy her children Christmas gifts. She gambled some of the remaining money, court documents state.

At the time of the robberies, Hampton-Houser's attorney said, she was battling depression brought on by the loss of her job as a Cook County correctional officer, family problems created when her husband was arrested and imprisoned for rape and her diagnosis of multiple sclerosis.

"Denise's criminal conduct is a marked departure from an otherwise law-abiding life," defense lawyer Gary Ravitz said.