EAST ST. LOUIS — A St. Louis man was sentenced to 87 months in federal prison Friday after admitting to robbing four banks in less than three weeks in late 2023.
Tyrone Leslie, 40, pleaded guilty in January to four counts of bank robbery, with one count charged in the Southern District of Illinois and three in the Eastern District of Missouri. The Missouri cases were transferred to southern Illinois to be prosecuted together.
Leslie’s robberies occurred between Nov. 14 and Dec. 4, 2023. Court documents show he took $2,740 from U.S. Bank on Tesson Ferry Road in St. Louis on Nov. 14, $964 from People’s National Bank on Hampton Avenue in St. Louis on Nov. 17, and $5,050 from PNC Bank on Manchester Road in St. Louis on Dec. 2. On Dec. 4, he attempted to steal $4,125 from FCB Bank in Caseyville.
After the FCB Bank robbery, Leslie led police on a high-speed chase. The Caseyville Police Department led the investigation.
U.S. Attorney Steven D. Weinhoeft said, “Bank robbers like Tyrone Leslie threaten the safety of the community, even when they are not carrying guns. It is no defense that Leslie used threatening notes instead of more violent means.”
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ali Burns and Laura Reppert prosecuted the case.
