A man who stole an ATM and then led officers on a high-speed chase for approximately 40 minutes was sentenced yesterday, November 5, 2026, to more than four years in federal prison.
John Fitzgerald Bennett, age 56, from Gilbertville, Iowa, received the prison term after a June 4, 2026, guilty plea to one count of credit union larceny.
In a plea agreement, Bennett admitted that on May 3, 2025, he stole a pickup truck from a home in Waterloo. He then drove the truck to a parking lot in Cedar Falls. Bennett walked down the street and took a forklift from a construction site. He drove the forklift to a credit union in Cedar Falls and attempted to use the forklift to lift an interactive teller machine off the ground. The machine tipped over and Bennett could not maneuver the forklift to successfully steal the machine. Bennett then drove the forklift further down the street to a second credit union. There, he successfully used the forklift to steal an ATM. Bennett drove the forklift with the ATM back to the parking lot where he had stashed the stolen pickup truck. Bennett used the forklift to move the ATM into the back of the pickup truck and drove away.
Bennett then led law enforcement officers on a high-speed chase, reaching speeds of 100 miles per hour, for approximately 46 miles and 40 minutes. Eventually, the stolen pickup truck was so damaged that it stopped moving. The tires were gone and the tire rims and running boards were resting on the ground. The front end of the truck was also damaged.
Bennett has a prior federal conviction for one count of credit union burglary and one count of credit union larceny.
Bennett was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge C.J. Williams. Bennett was sentenced to 51 months’ imprisonment and was ordered to make $246,676.46 in restitution to victims. He must also serve a three-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.
Bennett is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Devra T. Hake and investigated by the Cedar Falls Police Department, the Black Hawk County Sheriff’s Office, the Waterloo Police Department, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl .
The case file number is 25-CR-2068.
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Source: U.S. Attorney’s Office — Northern District of Iowa — U.S. Department of Justice press release.