Jack Ikegwuonu and his twin brother, William, were two very successful young athletes who seemed to have fame and fortune mapped out for them in life, but somehow ended up sentenced to the Federal Correctional Institution, Elkton for 9.5 years.
The twins journey to prison started in 2014 when they were arrested in suspicion of armed robbery events in their home state of Illinois.
The WAOW arrest report from 2014 reads:
Madison Police say they worked with Middleton Police to arrest the brothers last Wednesday shortly following an armed robbery at the Klinke Cleaners on North Gammon Road.
Madison police say the investigation indicates much of the money taken during the crimes of which the brothers are suspected was being used to buy heroin.
Jack Ikegwuonu, 28, and his twin brother, William, were arrested on University Avenue by a team of officers looking for a specific SUV connected to the suspects.
Authorities say the SUV had been initially identified by a police tracking dog indicating a connection between a State street armed robbery and a parking lot nearby, combined with surveillance images of the suspected get away car.. A detective obtained a warrant to attach a GPS device on the suspect’s SUV just prior to the robbery on North Gammon. Following the holdup, Madison police monitored the SUV’s travel as it drove toward downtown Madison.
Authorities say a handgun, cash and other evidence were found in the SUV.
The brothers are also suspects in a November 13 robbery at Madison Modern Market, a November 14 robbery of Cricket Wireless, a November 18 robbery of Life Is Good and a November 21 robbery of Klinke Cleaners. Madison police say additional charges are likely.
The brothers were eventually found guilty of the crimes and sentenced to 9.5 years.
Details of Jack Ikegwuonu’s foot ball career follows:
2005 season
Ikegwuonu garnered a Freshman All-American honorable mention by The Sporting News. He shared left cornerback duties starting at that position against Illinois, Penn State and Auburn adding another starting assignment at nickel back against Hawaii. Wearing jersey #27, Jack Ikegwuonu recorded 23 solo out of 26 tackles with two stops for a total of 6 yards in losses. He was responsible for deflecting 3 passes and intercepted 3 others for 63 yards in returns and one touchdowns.
2006 season
Ikegwuonu was selected as an All-Big Ten Conference first-team choice by the league’s coaches and media, adding second-team honors from the media. Although he was suspended briefly after his December arrest, he was allowed to play in the Citrus Bowl. He started all 13 games at right cornerback, switching to jersey #6 from #27 and recording 38 solo out of 41 tackles with 3.5 stops for a total of 14 yards in losses, caused a fumble and recovered another for a 50-yard touchdown return. He was responsible for deflecting 11 passes and intercepted two passes for 28 return yards.
2007 season
Ikegwuonu was selected as an All-Big Ten Conference first-team choice by the league’s coaches and media. He started all 13 games at right cornerback, recording 19 solo out 24 tackles with a league-high fifteen pass deflections and one interception for a 2-yard loss. He saw his main pass coverage assignments catch 38 passes for an average of 15.76 yards and five touchdowns.
Ikegwuonu elected to forgo his senior college season to enter the 2008 NFL Draft, but he injured his knee in January 2008 while preparing for the NFL Scouting Combine.
Professional career
Ikegwuonu was selected by the Philadelphia Eagles in the fourth round (131st overall) of the 2008 NFL Draft after being projected as high as a first-round draft pick. He missed the entire 2008 season because of a knee injury during the 2008 NFL Combine and on July 22 was placed on the Physically-Unable-to-Perform list.
He was waived on September 5, 2009. He was re-signed to the team’s practice squad on September 7, 2009. After cornerback Joselio Hanson was suspended for four games for failing a drug test before the start of the 2008 NFC Championship game, Ikegwuonu was promoted to the active roster. He played in his first regular season game in the NFL on November 22, 2009 against the Chicago Bears. He was waived on November 24 after the team signed Geoffrey Pope off the Cincinnati Bengals practice squad.