MADISON, WIS. – Timothy M. O’Shea, United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, announced that Bernard Thomas, 31, Chicago, Illinois, was sentenced yesterday by U.S. District Judge William M. Conley to a year in prison for failure to surrender to serve his 18-month federal robbery conviction. This sentence was ordered to run consecutive to that robbery conviction. Thomas pleaded guilty to this charge on June 2, 2022.
On January 28, 2021, Thomas was sentenced in federal court in Madison by Judge Conley to 18 months’ imprisonment for robbing Rocky’s Liquor, a business located in Madison, on December 28, 2019. During sentencing, Judge Conley ordered Thomas—who was on pretrial release—to surrender to the Bureau of Prisons on March 12, 2021 to serve his sentence. On that date, Thomas failed to surrender for service of his sentence. Almost a year later, on February 15, 2022, Thomas was arrested in Chicago by the U.S. Marshals Service.
During sentencing, Judge Conley stated that Thomas ignored the Court’s order and had to be held accountable for his actions especially in light of the serious nature surrounding his robbery conviction. Further, Thomas’ decision to abscond ultimately increased his time away from his family and will likely negatively impact his designation and security level in federal prison.
The failure to report charge against Thomas was the result of an investigation conducted by the U.S. Marshals Service. The robbery was investigated by the Madison Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney David J. Reinhard prosecuted this case.