August 14, 2023

JOLIET— Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow has announced that Justin Brown, 24, of Park Forest, and Terwon Matthews, 25, of Chicago, were sentenced today by Circuit Judge David Carlson to 30 years in prison for Armed Robbery, a Class X felony, in two 2019 armed robberies in Frankfort and New Lenox. Both men pled guilty before Judge Carlson.

On November 16, 2019, Defendants Brown and Matthews, along with two other individuals, confronted a female who was attempting to withdraw money at about 5:45 am from a Chase Bank ATM on LaGrange Road in Frankfort. After blocking the victim’s car by cutting in front of her, the defendants who appeared to be armed with a gun first took the victim’s phone and credit card, and then proceeded to withdraw money from the ATM. Two of the perpetrators entered the victim’s car and, for a more than 3-hour period, engaged in an armed robbery spree during which they purchased items at various stores in the south suburbs by taking cash withdrawals from the victim’s accounts while she remained in the car. The defendants then drove the woman into Chicago where they abandoned the victim and her car, fleeing in a separate vehicle occupied by other offenders. A total of $8,900 was taken from the victim’s accounts.

“The abject terror she endured cannot be described,” Glasgow said. “One can hardly imagine the depths of despair that she reached during this excruciating ordeal, not knowing if she was going to live or die.”

Thirteen days later, on November 29, 2019, Brown and Matthews along with other offenders confronted a male victim in New Lenox at about 6 a.m. as he was walking to his car which was parked in his driveway. The defendants, while masked and believed to be carrying a gun, confronted the victim in his driveway and demanded his debit card. They then placed him in the car they arrived in and for the next four hours kept him covered with a jacket while they engaged in an armed robbery spree, making purchases in the south suburbs and northwest Indiana area and taking cash advances. After the victim’s bank closed the account, the defendants dropped the victim off along the expressway in Hammond, Indiana.

“To be a victim of an armed robbery and then taken in a car by the thugs who robbed you, driven around for hours, and left on the side of a road in a different town is a life-altering experience that this victim must now live with every day,” Glasgow said. “This callous and morally bankrupt behavior is demonstrative of an abandoned and malignant soul. They are bereft of basic humanity.”

Brown and Matthews each will receive 1,333 days credit for time served. They also will serve 18 months mandatory supervised release after completion of their sentences.

Glasgow commended Criminal Division Chief Peter Wilkes, Assistant State’s Attorneys Sarah Romero and Mark Shlifka, Victim Services Advocate Mallory Magee, Frankfort Police Department Detectives Jay Sanders and Joe Sroka, and Will County Sheriff Department Retired Detective Brian O’Leary and Sergeant Mike Earnest for their dedication and commitment in this matter.