Michigan Man Pleads Guilty To Highland Bank Robbery

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Stephen R. Wigginton, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, announced today that Ramsey Z. Fakhouri, 22, of Troy, Michigan, pled guilty today to an indictment charging him with bank robbery.

The charge relates to an incident that occurred on February 14, 2014, in Highland, Illinois, when Fakhouri, with the help of another man, robbed the Bradford National Bank in Highland, Illinois.

Documents filed with the court reveal that Fakhouri and the other man traveled from Michigan to Highland, where the other man, armed with an air gun which looked like a real firearm, robbed a bank employee of cash. The employee was about to put the cash into the bank’s ATM machine outside the bank. The total amount stolen was $25,780.

Fakhouri was arrested when he returned to the Highland Police Department, claiming that images he had seen in the media, which looked like Fakhouri, were not of him. However, upon questioning by the police, Fakhouri admitted that he and another were the perpetrators – the other being the person who robbed the employee, and Fakhouri being the driver of the getaway car. The other suspect, who is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, was later apprehended on February 17, 2014, in Chesterfield, Michigan.

Sentencing for Fakhouri is set for July 11, 2014.

The case was investigated by members of the Highland Police Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen B. Clark.