LAKE DELTON, Wis. — A 29-year-old Illinois man was sentenced Tuesday to more than eight years in federal prison after pleading guilty to robbing two Lake Delton businesses in 2020, the justice department announced.
Chief U.S. District Judge James Peterson sentenced Cortez Thurmond, of Gurnee, Illinois, to 8.5 years in prison for the robberies of the Alpha Red Studio tattoo parlor and the Gifts of the World store on July 28, 2020. Thurmond pleaded guilty in October, the justice department said in a news release.
The robberies of the businesses, which are located about three-tenths of a mile apart, happened within minutes of each other shortly after 3 p.m.
Officials said Thurmond and another man, Deon Brown, took money from the store and customers at Gifts of the World. Thurmond also hit a customer with a gun containing an extended magazine, the release said.
Thurmond had been on state supervision for a felony burglary conviction in Illinois at the time of the robberies, and the justice department said both men have also been indicted with conspiring to rob a number of businesses in the Racine and Kenosha areas.
Brown pleaded guilty to the Gifts of the World robbery in January and is scheduled to be sentenced on April 20.
Lake Delton police initially said two people were hurt after being hit by the gun and were treated by Dells-Delton EMS at the scene.
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