Wheaton Armed Robbery Conviction Gets Man 23 Years In Prison

WHEATON, IL — A Calumet City man has been sentenced to 23 years in prison after he was pleaded guilty to robbing a Wheaton Sprint store at gunpoint in 2019.

Denzel Furnace, 25, pleaded guilty to felony armed robbery for the Nov. 8, 2019 incident.

Police were called to the Sprint store at 212 Danada Square West around 8 p.m. on the above date for a report of an armed robbery. Employees told police officers Furnace came into the store with a semiautomatic gun and wearing gloves, a mask and a hooded sweatshirt.

Furnace then forced three staff members into a back room, where he made one employee use duct tape to restrain the other two employees, according to prosecutors. Furnace had been accused of forcing them to open the safe and then stealing 58 items. Police say he used duct tape to cover the employees' mouths and eyes.

Furnace was taken into custody the following day in Lansing.

“With their hands and feet bound and their eyes and mouths covered with duct tape, I cannot even begin to imagine the terror these innocent employees must have felt,” DuPage County State's Attorney Robert Berlin said in a statement.

Berlin added, “Violent gun crimes have no place in society and my office stands ready to bring the full force and effect of the law upon anyone who commits this type of brazen criminal conduct. We are all thankful none of the employees were physically injured, and it is my hope that with today’s sentence, the survivors of this crime will be able to continue their lives feeling safer knowing that the man who terrorized them has been sentenced to twenty-three years behind bars."