Bank employee '80 percent sure' defendant robbed Huntley bank

A DeKalb County man described himself Tuesday as a "very good friend" to suspected Huntley bank robber Matthew G. Reno and then provided testimony that could land the teen more than 20 years in prison.

McHenry County prosecutors began presenting their case Tuesday against Reno, a Hinckley resident accused of robbing the Castle Bank at gunpoint March 10, 2008 and escaping with more than $13,000.

Among the first witnesses before jurors was Reno's co-defendant, Justin Fasel, who over the summer cut a deal with prosecutors that will, in exchange for his testimony, send him to a four-month prison boot camp instead of the minimum six-year prison term he had been facing.

Fasel, 19, of Big Rock, testified that Reno called him the night before the stickup and suggested they find a bank in Huntley to rob because he knew the area and it was far from their DeKalb County homes.

"It was Matt's idea," Fasel said. "We scoped the place out, looked around and then went got something to eat."

After eating, Fasel said, he parked his car about a block from the bank and waited while Reno went inside armed with a handgun. He returned a short time later, Fasel said, with a backpack filled with thousands of dollars in cash.

Authorities allege that while in the bank, Reno pointed the gun at two tellers and demanded they empty their cash drawers into his backpack before he fled.

Fasel testified he used his share of the money for car stereo speakers, clothes, shoes and "a lot of weed." Authorities said Reno used some of his money to buy a used car.

Reno, who faces 21 to 45 years in prison if found guilty of armed robbery, denies any involvement in the holdup and his defense lawyer Tuesday pressed Fasel hard about the deal he struck for his testimony.

"You don't want to go to prison, do you?" defense attorney Kathleen Colton asked.

No," Fasel replied.

"And if you say Matt did it, you get your deal, correct?" she asked

Yes," he said.

Earlier Tuesday, a Castle Bank employee identified Reno in court and said she is "80 percent sure" he is the young man she allowed into the bank moments before the robbery.

Besides the Huntley robbery, Fasel told authorities he and Reno pulled 2008 bank robberies in Elburn and Millbrook and an attempted stickup of a bank in Union. They have not been charged in the Elburn and Millbrook robberies, but do face attempted armed robbery charges in the Union case.