Bank robber strikes again to pay restitution

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. -- A Bloomington man who says he robbed a bank and a gas station to repay money he stole in an earlier bank robbery has been sentenced to 14 years in prison.

Dontel Hughes, 19, was sentenced to eight years for aggravated bank robbery and two five-year terms for an earlier robbery of the same bank and a gas station, to be served concurrently with the eight-year sentence.

Circuit Judge W. Charles Witte also gave Hughes three years for taking part in the forgery of about $5,000 last year and three years for his role in the robbery of a different bank, Bloomington's Pontiac National Bank, in August 2000.

Hughes apologized in court Thursday and said financial pressures -- including the court-ordered restitution for bank robbery -- drove him to commit additional robberies.

"You're quick to apologize, but it doesn't stop you from robbing somebody next month," Witte told him.

Hughes had been sentenced in January to intensive probation for the Pontiac National Bank heist. He then robbed a Normal gas station and the Commerce Bank in March. He robbed the same bank on May 2 and was arrested.