A career criminal with an extensive history of narcotics convictions and prison time is headed back to federal prison after he was convicted of taking part in the robbery of four DuPage County financial institutions.

Tarandle Lee, 45, of Bolingbrook, was convicted Jan. 30 after a week-long jury trial for his involvement as the get-away driver in the robberies in DuPage between September 2021 and April 2022.

Lee faces up to 20 years in federal prison for each of the four robberies he committed.

Judge Robert Gettleman set a hearing for 10 a.m. March 13 for post-trial scheduling, including a sentencing date.

According to federal court records. Lee was on supervised release from an 11-year sentence for a 2012 drug conviction at the time he committed the robberies. Prosecutors will likely use that information in asking for a stiffer sentence.

Lee’s partner in the bank robberies, Charles Lawler, 54, of Villa Park, pleaded guilty in November, prior to trial, to the Naperville, Lisle and Westmont robberies. He is set to be sentenced March 11. He has an extensive criminal history dating back to 1990, and multiple prison terms served. Prosecutors are seeking a prison sentence of between 92 and 115 months for Lawler.

The four financial institutions Lee and Lawler robbed are: Old Second Bank, 3101 Ogden Ave., Lisle, on Sept. 28, 2021; Bank Financial, 6301 W. Fairview Ave., Westmont, on Oct. 6, 2021; BMO Harris Bank, 2413 75th St., Woodridge, on Jan. 3, 2022; and DuPage Credit Union, 725 Ogden Ave., Downers Grove, on April 14, 2022.

An estimated $30,000 was taken in the robberies.

Officers from the Downers Grove, Bellwood, Woodridge and Villa Park police departments assisted the FBI in the investigation.

Lee has a criminal history dating back to when he was 18. Between Feb. 18, 2009 and March 30, 2010, Lee was electronically recorded and watched as he sold cocaine and crack cocaine in up to 2-ounce quantities to confidential informants around DuPage County, including shopping centers in Oak Brook and Lombard.

In all, Lee sold roughly 5 ounces of crack cocaine and 3 ounces of powder cocaine.

At his sentencing in 2012, prosecutors called Lee “a career offender,” noting he had convictions dating back to 1999, and 15 criminal convictions as an adult, putting him in the highest federal sentencing category. They also made note that Lee was convicted of the 2003 battery of a Hillside police sergeant, during which he “struck and kicked” the officer “about the body.”

Prosecutors asked the judge to sentence Lee to between 188 and 235 months. Lee contested the sentencing guidelines, arguing that prosecutors had overstated the seriousness of his criminal past and that he “only” had four felony drug convictions. He was given a 130-month sentence.

He was released from custody in February 2020.