sovereign citizen bank robber escapes Skyscraper jail

[aGameOfThrones]

CHICAGO (AP) — Two bank robbers pulled off a daring escape from downtown Chicago's high-rise jail Tuesday by apparently scaling down about 20 stories using a makeshift rope tied to the bars in a cell window.

Police helicopters and canine units swarmed the area, but not until more than three hours after Joseph "Jose" Banks and Kenneth Conley went unaccounted for during a 5 a.m. headcount, U.S. Marshal's Service spokeswoman Belkis Cantor said.

Both men were still at large late Tuesday night.

Investigators found a broken window in the men's cell, where window bars were found inside a mattress, according to an FBI affidavit filed late Tuesday. Fake metal bars also were found in the men's cell, a rope was tied to a window bar, and each man's bed was stuffed with clothing and sheets to resemble a body, the affidavit said.

It appeared to illustrate a meticulously planned escape from the 27-story facility that came a week after Banks made a courtroom vow of retribution. Both men are facing hefty prison sentences, and the FBI said they should be considered armed and dangerous.

During trial, he had to be restrained because he threatened to walk out of the courtroom. He acted as his own attorney and verbally sparred with the prosecutor, at times arguing that that U.S. law didn't apply to him because he was a sovereign citizen of a group that was above state and federal law.

After he was convicted by U.S. District Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer, he said he would "be seeking retribution as well as damages," the Chicago Sun-Times and Chicago Tribune reported.

When the judge asked how long he needed to submit a filing, Banks replied: "No motion will be filed, but you'll hear from me."


http://news.yahoo.com/2-inmates-escape-high-rise-jail-chicago-214646886.html

[FindLiberty]

The story needs a bit more work to make a good movie out of it...

It might just get better all on its own.

[helmuth_hubener]

Oh please don't get caught. Please tell me this getaway can succeed. This is awesome!

[tod evans]

Oh please don't get caught. Please tell me this getaway can succeed. This is awesome!

I agree.

[mrsat_98]

The story needs a bit more work to make a good movie out of it...

It might just get better all on its own.

The story certainly has legs.

[jmdrake]

I honestly don't get the "sovereign citizen" movement. Assuming they're legal theory is right, what good is it if you can't get a judge and/or jury to agree? :confused:

[MoneyWhereMyMouthIs2]

I honestly don't get the "sovereign citizen" movement. Assuming they're legal theory is right, what good is it if you can't get a judge and/or jury to agree? :confused:


The first assertion they should make is that they aren't bank robbers. I'd assume anything less will get them convicted of bank robbery.

[sirgonzo420]

Prayers and well-wishes sent!

[pcosmar]

I honestly don't get the "sovereign citizen" movement. Assuming they're legal theory is right, what good is it if you can't get a judge and/or jury to agree? :confused:

Have you listened to any of them,,? Some of (much of) their "belief" is liberty oriented.
Much has a sound basis. And also believes that the present court system is corrupted and illegitimate.

They have some points.
This is the first time I have seen a darker skin tone and "Sovereign Citizen" in a story . I think?
Maybe their message is getting around?

[pcosmar]

The first assertion they should make is that they aren't bank robbers. I'd assume anything less will get them convicted of bank robbery.

Were they,,? or were they just "accused"?

And it is Media information. (credibility)

[shane77m]

Seems like they would have had some help. Seems like that would be a lot of sheets to keep in a cell.

[sirgonzo420]

Have you listened to any of them,,? Some of (much of) their "belief" is liberty oriented.
Much has a sound basis. And also believes that the present court system is corrupted and illegitimate.

They have some points.
This is the first time I have seen a darker skin tone and "Sovereign Citizen" in a story . I think?
Maybe their message is getting around?

Often black "sovereign citizen" types call themselves "Moors".

[pcosmar]

Often black "sovereign citizen" types call themselves "Moors".

Is it the same "concept"?

I have never heard of this guy before. I have heard and listened to some others. They are on the hard edge of liberty.

[jclay2]

lol, this happened right near my work.

[PaulConventionWV]

I honestly don't get the "sovereign citizen" movement. Assuming they're legal theory is right, what good is it if you can't get a judge and/or jury to agree? :confused:

It's their, not they're.

It doesn't seem right to steal because you think you're above the law, and just because not all of the bank's money isn' necessarily legitimate earnings, it doesn't mean it's yours to take. The guy seems like he has a warped mentality but, nonetheless, I hope he escapes.

[pcosmar]

Have you listened to any of them,,?

I have no idea if this guy robbed banks, just that, that is the accusation.
I have no idea if he was/is a "Sovereign Citizen". That is the allegation.

I have never seen the guy in this story (videos/news) before.

I have heard this guy,,


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFOUqurUgFkhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFOUqurUgFk

[Tpoints]

I honestly don't get the "sovereign citizen" movement. Assuming they're legal theory is right, what good is it if you can't get a judge and/or jury to agree? :confused:

To tell yourself you're right. Or, to some of these people, they literally are delusional enough to think that words are stronger than fists.

[jmdrake]

It's their, not they're.

Glad to see the grammar police still are on duty. ;)



It doesn't seem right to steal because you think you're above the law, and just because not all of the bank's money isn' necessarily legitimate earnings, it doesn't mean it's yours to take. The guy seems like he has a warped mentality but, nonetheless, I hope he escapes.

Yeah. Well I'm not even focusing on the "facts" of the case. I guess I'm focusing on their legal theory. But yeah, I wish this was about not paying taxes or something. Even from the "it's really just fake fractional reserve money" argument they still (if they really did it) put people needlessly in harms way.

[jmdrake]

Seems like they would have had some help. Seems like that would be a lot of sheets to keep in a cell.

Yeah. But perhaps they cut the sheets into strips and then braided them together. I wonder how they got the bars off the windows? This prison looks pretty formidable to me.

http://l1.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/lUI_iwQF_QLTAKI_pfeoSw--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9aW5zZXQ7aD0xMDI0O3E9Nzk7dz0xMz k3/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/ap_webfeeds/bc24a59c85901323240f6a7067008c33.jpg

[Tpoints]

Often black "sovereign citizen" types call themselves "Moors".

I think black Moors are just an anti-government group that also shares their beliefs. So there are black sovereign citizens which did not come from the Moors path.

[Tpoints]

The first assertion they should make is that they aren't bank robbers. I'd assume anything less will get them convicted of bank robbery.

Yeah, exactly! They should start by saying the "bank" they "robbed" is either not legitimately a bank, or that their are beholden to the evil institution known as the Federal Reserve, therefore they are merely taking by force what is their own.

[torchbearer]

Oh please don't get caught. Please tell me this getaway can succeed. This is awesome! I know plenty of people that would help him out.

[itshappening]

I bet someone rats them out while they're on the run.

See something, say something.

[Tpoints]

Have you listened to any of them,,? Some of (much of) their "belief" is liberty oriented.
Much has a sound basis. And also believes that the present court system is corrupted and illegitimate.

They have some points.
This is the first time I have seen a darker skin tone and "Sovereign Citizen" in a story . I think?
Maybe their message is getting around?

The message gets around the same few circles, the extremists, the poor, the angry, the conspiracy theorists who are desperate to fight for their rights and property.

But no, it's not the first time I've heard of black Sovereign Citizens
http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/intelligence-report/browse-all-issues/2010/summer/black-sovereign-charged-in-scam-linke

This is the website of the group Cobbs claims to follow
http://www.yahwehbenyahweh.com/

[Tpoints]

I bet someone rats them out while they're on the run.

See something, say something.

forgot to bribe them

[torchbearer]

I bet someone rats them out while they're on the run.

See something, say something.

someone already did, but when the cops arrived, the guys were already gone, but left evidence there were there.
its near the end of the article.

[Tpoints]

someone already did, but when the cops arrived, the guys were already gone, but left evidence there were there.
its near the end of the article.

cops have to "arrive" at a jail?

[torchbearer]

cops have to "arrive" at a jail?

from article:

SWAT teams stormed at least one home in Tinley Park, a suburb south of the city. Although neither man was found, evidence suggested that both had been at the home just hours earlier, according to the FBI.

[MoneyWhereMyMouthIs2]

Were they,,? or were they just "accused"?

And it is Media information. (credibility)


No disagreement from me. But I still say you have to convince a court or jury that you aren't guilty of the bank robbery charges. A state court would happily convict a foreign national of bank robbery, no?

[torchbearer]

Update: Video shows prison escapees getting into taxi in Chicago
http://bostonherald.com/news_opinion/national/midwest/2012/12/video_shows_prison_escapees_getting_taxi_chicago


CHICAGO — Investigators on the trail of two bank robber fugitives have their best break in the investigation into their brazen jail break — the two got into a taxi at about 2:45 a.m. Monday at Congress Parkway and Michigan Avenue, authorities said Wednesday.
The key break comes from footage taken from a video camera in the downtown area, said Joan Hyde, an FBI spokeswoman.
Joseph “Jose” Banks and Kenneth Conley can be seen getting into a taxi that is headed southbound, Hyde said. Investigators are still reviewing the footage for further leads in the massive investigation that touched off after the convicted bank robbers and cell mates broke out of the federal jail downtown early Tuesday morning with a rope made of bedsheets.



Banks and Conley were next seen in southwestern Tinley Park at 7 a.m. when they went to the home of a relative of Conley’s, authorities said. They left there on foot soon after, leading to several searches of homes in the southwest suburbs.
Monday morning’s escape added another chapter in what his younger brother described as a long saga of family drama caused by Conley. The Tinley Park house where Conley’s mother lives with two of Conley’s brothers and his sister has been searched by SWAT teams, and each member of the family has been questioned by the FBI, said Conley’s younger brother, who asked that his name not be used.
“We’re just a regular family. We all have jobs. We all go to work,” he said. The brother wasn’t home, but he spoke to his mother and sister minutes after Conley left the house.
“He was pounding on the door, and the doorbell was going crazy,” said his brother. Conley came in, looking frazzled and wearing a white shirt and gray pants, accompanied by a man the family later identified as Banks.
“He said ‘Hey, I’m out on bond,’ which we thought was strange, because usually the family gets some notice,” his brother said, noting that since his early 20s, Conley had served multiple stints in prison or jail in Cook County, Will County, Florida and Illinois. Within minutes of his arrival, Conley’s mother and sister insisted he leave. His younger brother gave him a winter coat.
When questioned by FBI agents, his brother said he could offer few guesses as to why Conley would have immediately gone to his mother’s house after making his escape, and had no idea where Conley and Banks might be headed.
“I don’t know that there is anyone out there that would help him,” his brother said. “He’s kind of black-sheeped himself out of the whole family.”
His frequent arrests had strained his relationships with family. Federal court records show Conley had been involuntarily committed at a hospital not long after the May 2011 bank robbery that had led to the charges that landed him in the MCC, and that Conley was arrested at the Tinley Park Mental Health Center for violating his parole tied to a prison stint in California. Conley’s mother was so distraught, she was hospitalized for several days after his arrest, his brother said.
Conley was “pretty smart,” but never seemed to be able to avoid getting involved with petty criminal schemes, his brother said. When the family learned he had robbed a bank, his brother recalled feeling little surprise that Conley has committed a robbery.
“I guess I was surprised that he almost got away with it,” the brother said. “From what it seemed like, if my mom hadn’t had him committed, he might have got away with it.”
Court records in the bank robbery case seem to support the picture that Conley was no criminal mastermind. He managed to steal only about $4,000, and witnesses said he talked at length about loans with staff at the bank — and was wearing a nametag on his suit — before pointing a gun at a teller. In surveillance photos, it appeared Conley was wearing the same suit during the robbery that he wore when he showed up later that night at Club 390, a Chicago Heights strip club where he worked as a bouncer. At the club, he flashed a large wad of cash, and paid off a $500 debt to a co-worker and bought numerous rounds of drinks for other patrons, staff at the club said Monday.
Conley is not a violent person, his brother said, though he did threaten to shoot the teller and later brandished a BB-gun at a woman in the days after the bank robbery.
“He’s spent probably half his life in jail. Do I think he’s capable of doing something dangerous? I don’t know,” his brother said. “I hope he just turns himself in.”

[dannno]

Yeah. But perhaps they cut the sheets into strips and then braided them together. I wonder how they got the bars off the windows? This prison looks pretty formidable to me.

http://l1.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/lUI_iwQF_QLTAKI_pfeoSw--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9aW5zZXQ7aD0xMDI0O3E9Nzk7dz0xMz k3/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/ap_webfeeds/bc24a59c85901323240f6a7067008c33.jpg

Looks like he had to take out some of that concrete as well??