Fed. court indicts armed bank robbery suspect

U.S. Attorney Joseph Hogsett announced Thursday the federal indictment of a Bloomington man.

John Lee Adams III, 22, is charged with armed bank robbery, brandishing a firearm during a violent crime and possession of a firearm — all in addition to a misdemeanor domestic violence conviction, according to a press release.

Armed with a gun, Adams reportedly robbed Peoples State Bank, 525 S. Clarizz Blvd., in November of last year. The bank is located in the Hoosier Acres neighborhood in Bloomington.

The indictment comes in response to a seven-month investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Bloomington Police Department, according to the release.

“This indictment alleges a brazen robbery of a bank located in a busy residential and commercial neighborhood,” Hogsett said in the release. “That kind of dangerous lawlessness has no place in Bloomington, and it has to stop.”

According to the release, the decision is a by-product of the U.S. Attorney’s Violent Crime Initiative. The VCI represents a district-wide strategy to work with both local law enforcement and county prosecutors to combat firearm use by offenders in violent crime, according to the release.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Zachary Myers, who is prosecuting the case for the government, said Adams faces a maximum sentence of life in prison and a $750,000 fine if convicted on all presented counts, according to the release.

The initial hearing took place Thursday in Indianapolis. Adams will remain detained as he awaits his trial.
 
— Michael Majchrowicz