CHICAGO An ex-convict faces a lengthy return to federal prison after last week being found guilty of a 2011 armed robbery of $135,000 from Illiana Financial CU.
Authorities said Wayne Hill, 47, robbed the credit union of $134,324 and then gambled away some of the proceeds at a casino.
Hill wore a grotesque white mask when he entered the credit union and promptly pointed a gun at a teller’s head, according to an FBI affidavit in the case. Another employee heard the teller scream and found the terrified worker crouched on the floor behind the counter, the complaint stated. A customer also related that she saw Hill enter the building “while waving a gun and yelling something to the effect of, Give me the money,’” the affidavit said.
Tellers removed cash from their drawers and put it inside a dark-colored bag proffered by Hill. One teller was ordered into the vault to obtain more money from a drawer there, with Hill then fleeing from the area on foot.
Hill was arrested a week later inside the Horseshoe Casino in Hammond, Ind.
An Indiana Gaming Commission enforcement agent on Nov. 26, 2011 saw Hill inserting “red dye-stained” money into one of the gambling machines. Exploding packets of dye are often hidden inside bundles of cash given to bank robbers.
The agent seized more than $66,000 in dye-stained money from a bag Hill was carrying and machines at which he gambled.
Hill also spent some of the money a few days earlier at the Potawatomi Bingo Casino in Milwaukee. He told the gaming agent he had found the money on the side of a road.
Hill has served time in prison for at least two bank robberies in Chicago’s north and northwest suburbs.
Sentencing has not been scheduled.
