Man gets nearly 16 years for string of 20 armed robberies

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A man has been sentenced to nearly 16 years in federal prison for committing a string of 20 armed robberies across the Chicago area in 2010.

Carlos Ochoa, 50, pleaded guilty last September to three counts of interstate robbery and one count of using a firearm during a violent crime, according to a statement from the U.S. State’s Attorney’s office in Chicago.

The robberies happened over a five-month period between July and November 2010 when Ochoa and another man donned hats and sunglasses and brandished a gun while robbing 15 stores in Chicago, three in Berwyn and one each in Aurora and Indian Head Park, prosecutors said.

The pair robbed some of the businesses for as little as $25, prosecutors said.

Ochoa’s alleged accomplice Juan Sanchez — who briefly escaped state custody while on his way to a court hearing in December 2010 — died of natural causes in federal custody in January 2012, authorities said.

Ochoa was also ordered to pay almost $22,000 in restitution for all the robberies, prosecutors said.

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