ROCKFORD — A man has been convicted of federal robbery and firearm charges in connection with a series of violent retail store robberies in Rockford.
After a seven-day trial in U.S. District Court in Rockford, the jury on Tuesday convicted RICKEY CLAYBRON, 35, of Rockford, on one count of conspiracy to commit robbery, three counts of robbery, one count of attempted robbery, two counts of brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence, and two counts of discharging a firearm during a crime of violence. Claybron faces a maximum sentence of life in prison when he is sentenced next year.
The conviction was announced by John R. Lausch, Jr., United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; and Emmerson Buie, Jr., Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI. The investigation was conducted by the FBI-led Rockford Area Violent Crime Task Force, which includes law enforcement officers and agents from the FBI, Rockford Police Department, Loves Park Police Department and Winnebago County Sheriff’s Office. The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jessica S. Maveus and Kaitlin Klamann.
According to evidence presented at trial, Claybron and his co-conspirators conducted four violent robberies in the fall of 2015:
Haywood and a third co-conspirator, DARNELL LEAVY of Rockford, pleaded guilty prior to trial. Haywood was sentenced to 26 and a half years in federal prison, while Leavy was sentenced to eleven and a half years.
