Chicago men get 30 years in Lombard Radio Shack heist
Calling their lengthy combined criminal histories "incredible" and "amazing," DuPage County Judge George Bakalis sentenced two Chicago brothers to their longest prison stint yet.
Antuoine Adams, 39, and Ronaldo C. Crawford, 34, both of the 8700 block of Bishop Street, each were sentenced to 30 years in prison Friday for the June 5, 2013, armed robbery of the Radio Shack store at 18W435 Roosevelt Road near Lombard.
Between a March 5, 2013, armed robbery of a Radio Shack in Berwyn and the June 23 robbery of a Des Plaines Radio Shack, the men are accused of stealing more than $307,500 in cash and merchandise from six Radio Shack locations across Chicago and the suburbs.
Further, both men pleaded guilty in April to a May 2013 robbery of an Elgin Radio Shack, and each was sentenced to 15 years in prison. The Des Plaines case is still pending in Cook County.
Prosecutors said Adams' history includes 13 previous felonies, including 11 armed robberies. Crawford has been convicted of nine felonies, eight of which were armed robberies. Both were discharged from parole in 2012 after serving 13-year sentences for a 2002 armed robbery spree.
"I have seldom seen criminal histories like what we have here. It's almost incredible to have that many armed robbery convictions," Bakalis said. "It's an amazing record of criminal activity."
Bakalis also called the two the most courteous armed robbers he has ever seen, noting their calm demeanor during the stickups and decisions to not use real guns and to wait until stores were empty so as not to "traumatize" the customers, which sometimes included children.
In a twist, it was revealed Friday that Crawford once worked at a Radio Shack store and quit after himself being traumatized during an armed robbery.
In the Lombard case, the men initially pretended to be customers before robbing the store of more than $40,000 in cash and electronics.
The lone clerk working that day testified during last month's trial that he was searching an online inventory for a phone Crawford asked about when Adams asked to use a washroom.
When denied, Adams pulled what was later determined to be a replica Glock pellet gun and placed it on the counter and demanded all of the money in the register.
Adams and Crawford then instructed the clerk to fill five bags with phones, tablets and headphones.
When Adams and Crawford were done, the clerk said they put him in the store's washroom and told him to count to "300 or 500" before coming out.
A few weeks later, Adams and Crawford were charged with the armed robbery of a Radio Shack in Des Plaines.
In that case, police said they were able to follow the suspects through a tracking device in the box of one of the electronics they had stolen. That investigation then linked the pair to the robbery of the Lombard store.
Seeking leniency in their sentences, which could have been as long as 60 years, both men apologized to the court Friday.
"I apologize for any trauma we inflicted on any of the victims and I'm contrite for the choices I've made," Adams said. "I never thought I'd be forced to make the stupid decisions that would land me back in here. And I wish I would have never dragged my brother into it, either."
Crawford said he never intended to hurt anyone and repeated the pair's initial claims that they were committing the robberies to help their grandmother, who was facing foreclosure.
"I never intended to hurt anyone," Crawford said. "I'm not an animal. I didn't do this for fun."
Defense attorneys for both men said they intend to ask Bakalis to reconsider the sentence during a Sept. 11 hearing.