United States Attorney Joseph S. Van Bokkelen

Northern District of Indiana

5400 Federal Plaza, Suite 1500

Hammond, IN 46320

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                         CONTACT: Mary L. Hatton

April 24, 2006                                                                         PHONE: (219) 937-5603

Fax: (219) 852-2770

FEDERAL GRAND JURY RETURNS INDICTMENTS FOR BANK ROBBERY

Hammond, IN—The United States Attorney's Office announced that a Grand Jury sitting in Hammond, Indiana, returned the following Indictment on April 20, 2006:

Alethia Jones, age 24 of Harvey, Illinois and Tonya Lee, age 33, of Merrillville, Indiana are charged with the armed robbery of the Citizen’s Financial Services Bank in Schererville, Indiana on October 18, 2005. Nicole Williams, age 21, and her sister Sharon Williams, age 22, both of Gary, Indiana, are each charged with receiving money which they knew to be stolen during the robbery of the Citizen’s Financial Services Bank.

            Tonya Lee, Nicole Williams and Sharon Williams are also charged in the same indictment with conspiring to commit an armed robbery of the People’s Bank in Munster, Indiana, and with attempting to rob this same bank on October 1, 2005.

Nicole Williams and Sharon Williams both received some of the stolen money from Jones and Lee after the robbery.

These charges were filed as a result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. This has been assigned to and will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney David J. Nozick, who can be reached at 219-937-5500.

The specific sentence in each case to be imposed upon conviction will be determined by the judge after a consideration of federal sentencing statutes and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines. The United States Attorney's Office emphasized that an Indictment is merely an allegation and that all persons charged are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty in court.

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