Federal Agents Apprehend Two Wilmette Bank Robbery Suspects

Chicago - Men from Chicago and Nebraska have been charged for a 2009 armed-robbery of a bank in north suburban Wilmette.

Sefer Hodzic, 32, of 2308 W. Granville Ave., was arrested without incident Thursday morning and charged in a criminal complaint field Monday with one count of felony bank robbery, according to a release from the FBI.

Mario Besic, 37, of Lincoln, Neb., was arrested Wednesday while in the custody of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Omaha, Neb., where he was being held pending deportation to his native country, Bosnia-Herzegovina, the release said. Besic has been charged in connection with the bank robbery, but the specific charge was not immediately available Friday afternoon.

According to the complaint, Besic and another man entered the Fifth Third Bank branch at 1225 Green Bay Rd. in Wilmette and robbed the bank about 12:55 p.m. April 4, 2009, according to the release.

Besic and the other man allegedly tied up two employees and instructed another employee to enter the codes to open two safes. The men took $119,523 from the safes and fled the bank, according to the release. Hodzic was allegedly waiting in a getaway car outside the bank.

Hodzic appeared Thursday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeffrey Cole and is being held in federal custody pending a detention hearing a noon March 24 in U.S. District Court in Chicago, the release said.

If convicted, Besic and Hodzic faces possible sentences of up to 20 years in prison, the release said.

The FBI, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Wilmette police investigated.