Miami man admits he was accomplice in June 11 bank robbery murder | Crime and Courts

James A. King, 24, appeared Monday afternoon before U.S. District Court Judge Philip P. Simon to admit he played a role in the June 11 holdup of the First Midwest Bank branch at 1975 W. Ridge Road in Gary that left a security guard dead.

King signed a 10-page agreement last weekend that he is pleading guilty to bank robbery and murder charges and giving up his right to a jury trial in return for the U.S. Attorney’s office giving up its intention of seeking a life sentence against him.

King would still face a minimum of 10 years imprisonment.

The judge is taking King’s guilty plea Monday as well as the agreement under advisement before deciding whether to accept both.

King’s agreement doesn’t state he will cooperate with federal prosecutors against his co-defendant, Hailey Gist-Holden.

Nevertheless, King’s admission of his own crime thoroughly incriminates Gist-Holden as a co-conspirator in it and that Gist-Holden fatally shot Richard Castellana, a 55-year-old Tinley Park resident.

Gist-Holden is pleading not guilty and denying any involvement in the robbery.

King told authorities last year he knew Gist-Holden from playing on the Illini Panthers, a semi-professional football team in the Mid-States Football League that Gist-Holder owned and coached.

King’s factual admission states he, Gist-Holden and two unnamed and unindicted persons conspired June 11 to rob the bank and arm themselves with a rifle and a 40-caliber Glock and split the proceeds of the robbery.

King states one of the unnamed co-conspirators drove him and Gist-Holden near the bank. He said Gist-Holden used the rifle to kill Castellana before King ran inside the bank and brandished his Glock at the tellers and customers.

He states Gist-Holden fired several more shots into the windows of the bank as King scooped up more than $9,000 from a teller station and the two men then ran to a wooded area where they split up.

Police arrested King shortly after the crime and recovered the cash. Law enforcement officers arrested Gist-Holden a week later near Valdosta, Georgia.

Federal prosecutors announced last year they would ask the U.S. Department of Justice for permission to seek the death penalty for the crime. Last month, they disclosed wouldn’t go forward with a death penalty prosecution.

Gist-Holden fired his court-appointed lawyers last fall and is acting as his own defense attorney.

He has asked the court to dismiss the case and suppress any statements be made to police following his arrest, but Simon has refused those requests.