DOJ Seal

Department of Justice

U.S. Attorney's Office
Western District of Wisconsin

For Immediate Release

Thursday, February 25, 2016
John W. Vaudreuil
, United States Attorney
Contact: Robert A. Anderson

Janesville Man Sentenced to Six Years in Federal Prison for Robbery of Tavern

MADISON, WIS. -- John W. Vaudreuil, United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, announced that Jeffery S. Forsythe, 30, Janesville, Wis., was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge James Peterson to six years in federal prison for the December 2014 robbery of Bad Brad’s Bar on Rockport Road in Janesville. Forsythe pleaded guilty to this charge on September 23, 2015.

Forsythe admitted that he was the masked individual who displayed what appeared to be a firearm and demanded the cash at that bar on the morning of December 15, 2014. According to the bar owner, the bar lost over $1,500 in the robbery, for which Forsythe was ordered to pay restitution as part of his sentence.

Forsythe claimed that he used an air-soft gun that looked like a semi-automatic pistol to commit the robbery, and didn’t mean to hurt anyone.

Judge Peterson told Forsythe, however, that the victims of the robbery didn’t know anything other than the fact he was putting them in fear for their lives with what looked to be a real firearm. The fear and trauma to the victims was real. Judge Peterson described Forsythe as an immature and impulsive individual whose long history of less serious offenses culminated in this violent crime, for which a significant sentence was necessary.

The charge against Forsythe was the result of an investigation conducted by the Janesville Police Department and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The prosecution of this case has been handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert A. Anderson.

St. Paul Field Division