Web Images, Sons, Nail Bank-Robbing Dad

An Illinois man will be sentenced for a string of bank robberies; the trail leading to his arrest went through the Internet and his sons.

"As Willie Sutton the bank robber said when asked why he robbed banks, 'because that's where the money is'."
-- quote long attributed to the infamous criminal and escape artist

When one brother met with two other brothers at the fire department where they volunteered, they quickly realized the security camera pictures they found online showed someone who looked a lot like their father. Robbing banks.

The New York Times reported that upon going to the home of William Ginglen, they found the same clothing the robber had worn, and called police to turn him in.

A DeWitt County, IL, sheriff named Roger Massey had been puzzling over the robberies, which started in 2003. In 2004, new cameras installed at a bank the robber had previously hit captured clear images of Ginglen when he returned to rob it again.

When Massey got copies of the images, he had a Web site built to host the photos and spread the word, hoping to find someone who could identify the robber. It worked, and Ginglen now faces 32 years in jail on robbery and weapons charges.

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David Utter is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business.