19 months for robbery to fund party

OAK PARK, Ill., Dec. 28 (UPI) -- An Illinois man who admitted planning a bank robbery to fund his going-to-jail party for a drug conviction was sentenced to 19 months in prison for the plot.

The FBI said Mickey Loniello Jr., 36, was facing a lengthy jail term for drug charges in 2007 so he and a pair of co-conspirators -- including an undercover FBI agent wearing a wire -- made plans to steal a getaway car and rob a Chase Bank branch in Oak Park, Ill., to fund a goodbye fest, the Chicago Sun-Times reported Friday.

Loniello and his accomplice, Nathaniel Aguilar, were provided with a dummy .45 caliber handgun and were busted when they attempted the robbery May 25, 2007.

Loniello previously pleaded guilty to the robbery charge under a deal and Judge James Zagel sentenced him Thursday to 19 months of jailtime.

The convict said he is working on getting help for his heroin addiction and told the judge he "was not in the right state of mind" when he attempted the robbery.

Zagel said Loniello's fight against drugs will be "difficult," but "can be done."