Benson was taken into custody in Illinois and extradited to Wisconsin in connection with the May 2013 robbery of the Educators Credit Union robbery.
By H. Nelson Goodson
April 17, 2014
Mikwaukee, WI - On Thursday, Milwaukee police reported that Jessica M. Benson, 23, was arrested in northern Illinois on April 4 by the U.S. Marshals Service and extradited to Wisconsin in connection with the May 7, 2013 robbery of the Educators Credit Union. Benson was booked into the Milwaukee County jail, where she remains today. Her boyfriend Nathaniel Robinson, 36, was also arrested for a parole violation and was wanted in connection with the robbery of a financial institution. Charges for planning to rob a financial institution are pending against Robinson.
Benson was working at the financial institution when both Benson and Robinson planned to rob it. They had two suspects rob the credit union, but were caught shortly after the robbery. The suspects got about $6,000 in cash.
Benson disappeared three days after the robbery and before taking her final exams to graduate from Mount Mary College. She called in sick about four days after the robbery.
When police went to do a welfare check, they discovered that her apartment was empty and she had moved. Neighbors told police that they saw her and her live in boyfriend moving out at night. She had cut and tinted her hair, according to a friend who loan her $200.
Police were able to connect her to the robbery after her mother told police that Benson had admitted that she had been talked into robbing the financial institution where she worked at. Benson's mother said, that Robinson had convinced her daughter to help him rob the place, according to the criminal complaint. She was charged with one felony count of robbery of a financial institution and party to a crime in November 2013.
The two bank robbers, Kevin Blackburn, 26, was convicted in the case after a jury found him guilty of robbing a financial institution, operating a vehicle without consent and eluding an officer. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison and 6 years probation. The second suspect, Ricardo Lorenzo Perkins, 32, was convicted for robbing a financial institution and operating a vehicle without the owners consent. He was sentenced to 4 years in prison and 4 years probation, according to court records.
A police search warrant was issued in 2013 to get rental car records from a car rental place that Benson used after the robbery. Police investigators alleged that both Benson and her live in boyfriend, Robinson had planned the robbery, but managed to move out from their apartment on or after May 3. Court documents indicate, a probation agent had visited Robinson's apartment earlier and furniture was still at the place. Soon after, both Benson and Robinson moved out and disappeared.
Robinson didn't report his new address to his parole agent and had missed a meeting with the agent. A warrant was issued for Robinson after violating his parole conditions.
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