Skokie man gets 6 years for Schaumburg robberies

A 26-year-old Skokie man arrested in a string of armed robberies involving iPhones pleaded guilty Wednesday, court records show.

In exchange for Jay V. Dixon's guilty plea to two charges of aggravated robbery, a Cook County judge sentenced him to six years in prison for each charge, with sentences to be served concurrently, and ordered him to pay $689 in fines. The judge also awarded Dixon credit for the 87 days he had spent in custody.

Dixon and his co-defendant Brandon D. Timberlake, 27, of Arlington Heights, were arrested last summer following a Schaumburg police sting.

Police say the victims, who refurbished iPhones for resale, placed online ads seeking to purchase used phones. Dixon and Timberlake answered the ads and arranged to meet the buyers in various Schaumburg parking lots, at which point they displayed a handgun and robbed the victims, police said.

The day of the arrest, an undercover police officer posing as a buyer arranged to meet Timberlake. Police said Timberlake had a BB gun that resembled a handgun. Police found Dixon in a nearby vehicle and arrested him as well.

Prosecutors said Dixon was on parole for aggravated battery at the time of his arrest.

Timberlake pleaded guilty to the same charges last week and was sentenced to four years in prison.