Man sentenced to 19 years for robbing two downtown Chicago banks in 2023

A man has been sentenced to 19 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to robbing two downtown Chicago banks in less than a week in 2023.

Jawad Hakeem, 51, of Waukegan, pleaded guilty in January to two counts of bank robbery and one count of discharging a firearm during a crime of violence.

On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge John Kness sentenced Hakeem to 19 years in prison.

According to his plea agreement, Hakeem robbed a Chase Bank branch in the River North neighborhood at gunpoint on March 3, 2023, getting away with more than $2,000 in cash. Six days later, he robbed a Fifth Third Bank branch in the Loop at gunpoint.

During the second robbery, after throwing a plastic bag on two bank employees' workstations and demanding $100,000 in $100 bills, another bank employee called 911 and pressed a panic button as their coworkers filled the bag with cash.

As Hakeem was running away with $23,900 in cash, a security guard pulled out his gun, and the two got into a shootout. According to Hakeem's plea agreement, the guard suffered an injury to his hand when gunfire shattered the bank's glass windows.

Hakeem dropped approximately $10,450 in cash as he was fleeing the scene, which the bank was able to recover.

Three days after the second robbery, Hakeem checked into the Best Motel at 65th and King Drive in Chicago, failed to check out of his motel room, and left behind several items, including the gun he used in both robberies.

According to the charges, the FBI was able to connect Hakeem to the Fifth Third Bank robbery because he gave his phone number to a woman outside the bank just before the heist, and she recognized him from news coverage of the robbery.