Kankakee Man To Serve More Than 15 Years In Federal Prison For Attempted Bank Robbery And Possession Of A Firearm By A Felon

URBANA, Ill. -- A Kankakee man who admitted that he attempted to rob two Kankakee banks in the fall of 2012 has been sentenced.  On Nov. 14, 2013, U.S. District Judge Michael P. McCuskey ordered Nevin L. Lenton, 26, to serve 188 months in federal prison (15 years, 8 months).  On Jul. 9, 2013, Lenton entered pleas of guilty to the three counts against him:  attempted bank robbery, attempted aggravated bank robbery, and possession of a firearm by a felon.  Lenton has been in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service since his arrest in October 2012.

According to court documents, Lenton admitted that he entered Peoples Bank in Kankakee, with a bandana around his face, on Sept. 17, 2012, and appeared to be brandishing a firearm.  Lenton slipped and fell when he entered the bank, and when a bank security guard appeared and drew his service weapon, Lenton dropped the firearm and fled.  The firearm was later determined to be a pellet gun. 

A month later, on Oct. 22, 2012, Lenton told an unnamed individual that he planned to rob a bank in Kankakee.  The next day, Lenton drove the individual to the residence of a Kankakee police officer and said that he had gone to the home earlier to break in and steal a firearm; however, because a light was on inside the house, he believed someone was home and he did not break in.  Lenton then drove to Mainsource Bank in Kankakee and told the individual in detail how he planned to rob the bank. 

When the individual reported Lenton’s plans to law enforcement, officers were able to introduce an undercover officer to Lenton.  At Lenton’s request, the undercover officer met Lenton in Chicago on Oct. 25, 2012, and provided Lenton with two firearms.  The undercover officer then agreed to accompany Lenton to Kankakee to assist with the robbery of Mainsource Bank.  Once Lenton and the undercover officer arrived and parked within one block of the bank, officers arrested Lenton.  At the time Lenton possessed the firearms, he had at least three prior felony convictions, including two burglary convictions and a robbery conviction. 

The case was investigated by the Kankakee Area Project Safe Neighborhoods Task Force, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, and the Kankakee Police Department.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Eugene L. Miller.