Bank robbery not as easy as thought for Carol Stream man, feds say
It started not too differently than a lot of party conversations or idle banter, feds say - three guys sitting around B.S.-ing about how easy it would be to rob a bank.
Given that you're reading this in the newspaper or online, You can see where this is going, can't you?
Yep, straight to federal court, where Thursday, two bank tellers, including a Carol Stream man, and an accomplice were accused of faking a holdup at a Glencoe Bank in June.
Kevin Lamas, 22, of 110 Redhill Trail, was working as a teller at JP Morgan Chase Bank at 45 Green Bay Road in Glencoe June 26 when it was robbed after hours. Lamas and his co-worker Dennis Zambrano, 22, of 4911 W. Henderson in Chicago, told the FBI and police that they let in a man who was trying to use the ATM in the lobby after the man waved his ATM card and gestured to them as if he was having problems with the machine, police said.
In fact, both tellers knew the man, Hugo Fernando Zambrano, who is Dennis Zambrano's brother and lives with him. The three had earlier been idly discussing in April or May how easy it would be to rob a bank, according to an FBI affidavit by Special Agent Mark J. Prejsnar.
After letting in the robber, the two tellers handed over $272,865 from the bank's vault and automated teller machines. Hugo Zambrano even tied up the two tellers to make the robbery look legit, the FBI alleges.
But when investigators smelled something funny with the story, they reinterviewed Lamas on Aug. 6 and he crumbled, admitting the scheme, the FBI contends.
Lamas then went on to wear a wire and record the Zambrano brothers making incriminating statements about the robbery, the affidavit says.
Hugo Zambrano appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael Mason Thursday and was held without bond while the two tellers were released after posting bail. All three were represented by federal defenders, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Lisa Noller. Neither of the Zambrano brothers nor Lamas could be reached for comment Thursday afternoon.