CHICAGO (CN) - A man who escaped from a high-rise federal prison in downtown Chicago by rappelling down 15 stories was sentenced to 20 years for bank robbery.
In a daring December 2012 jailbreak, Kenneth Conley and Jose Banks removed a cinder block from under their window in the Metropolitan Correctional Center, slipped through the opening and rappelled 15 stories down the building using a rope made from towels and bedsheets.
They hailed a taxicab and got away.
Guards didn't notice they were gone until 5 hours later, when the morning shift saw the rope dangled down the side of the building.
Banks was caught three days later, but Conley remained at large for three weeks, instigating a nationwide manhunt. He was caught outside a suburban apartment building, disguised as an old man with a cane.
Both Banks and Conley were in jail on charges of bank robbery. Banks had been sentenced to the maximum penalty of 20 years just days before his escape.
Conley was sentenced last week to 20 years, for robbing an MB Financial Bank outlet in a grocery store in suburban Homewood. He also was ordered to pay $3,969 in restitution.
He awaits trial for escape, to which he has pleaded not guilty.
The maximum penalty for escape is 5 years.
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