JACKSON COUNTY — A Jackson County jury Tuesday found a Carbondale man guilty of robbery following a two-day jury trial.

Jackson County State’s Attorney Michael Carr says shortly after midnight on February 1, 2019, two Carbondale residents walked to an ATM on East Main Street in Carbondale to withdraw cash. Forty-nine-year-old Alphonzo E. Higgins and another male watched as they made the ATM transaction and then followed them for approximately two blocks to an apartment building at 300 South Marion Street where one of them lived.

Upon arrival at the apartment building, Higgins and his accomplice attacked the two victims and took cash from them as they attempted to get inside the building. The Carbondale Police Department obtained video surveillance from both the bank and the apartment building which captured the incident and were able to identify both Alphonzo Higgins and his accomplice as the attackers through those videos.

The offense of robbery was enhanced to a Class X felony due to the defendant’s prior convictions and carries a maximum sentencing range of 6 to 30 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections. The defendant will remain in custody at the Jackson County Jail without bond awaiting sentencing. The accomplice awaits trial.

This case was investigated by the Carbondale Police Department. Assistant State’s Attorney Rebecca Blomer was responsible for the prosecution of this case.