Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

CHICAGO — A man was charged in federal court today with conspiring to rob armored trucks and ATMs in Chicago suburbs this year.

Brian Synder, 24, of Chicago, is charged with conspiracy to commit robbery in a criminal complaint filed today in U.S. District Court in Chicago. Snyder is currently detained in law enforcement custody.

According to the complaint, Snyder conspired with others to rob two armored trucks in the Chicago suburbs of Country Club Hills and Chicago Heights and three ATMs in the Chicago suburbs of Lansing, Blue Island and Homewood. The conspirators also later attempted to rob a second armored truck in Country Club Hills but did not obtain any money.

In the armored truck robberies, two to five robbers armed with handguns took cash from the truck drivers as they were servicing ATMs or stores, the complaint states. The conspirators often drove stolen vehicles to the robbery locations and abandoned the vehicles afterward, the complaint states.

The complaint was announced by Morris Pasqual, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; Robert W. “Wes” Wheeler, Jr., Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI; Christopher Amon, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Division of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; and Larry Snelling, Superintendent of the Chicago Police Department. The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Elie Zenner, Simar Khera, and Kirsten Moran.

The public is reminded that a complaint is not evidence of guilt. The defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. The robbery conspiracy charge is punishable by a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison. If convicted, the Court must impose a reasonable sentence under federal statutes and the advisory U.S. Sentencing Guidelines.

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