A suspect in a deadly Indiana bank robbery was reprtedly going to use his stolen cash in the theft to help payoff expenses for his semi-pro football team, federal prosecutors said.
Hailey Gist-Holden is alleged to have planned to use some of the $9,000 taken from the Gary, Indiana bank to help pay for expenses accumulated from an Illinois semi-pro team, investigators said in a 17-page court filing unsealed Tuesday obtained by WFLD in Chicago. Gist-Holden is the owner of the semi-pro football team the Illini Panthers in the Midstates Football League.
He met his alleged accomplice James King Jr. through that team. The bank robbery occurred on June 11 with Holden being accused of killing security guard Richard Castella at the bank. King was arrested near the Gary bank where the theft occurred.
“The murder of Richard Castellana was a senseless act of violence,” Acting U.S. Attorney General Tina Nommay said. “Our hearts go out to Mr. Castellana’s family and those other victims terrorized by these criminal acts. Thanks go out to all our law enforcement partners locally and around the country in their determined efforts to apprehend King and Gist-Holden.”
Days after the robbery, the Illini Panthers wrote on their Facebook page that they would no longer compete in the league over a dispute about assigning referees to one of their games.
The league on June 14 determined the team violated league policies. The league released all players under contract with the team. Gist-Holden was reportedly paying for his players to stay at a hotel but his credit card had been declined and the hotel said the players needed to use their own cards.
According to WGN-TV, King pleaded not guilty and told authorities Gist-Holden was the shooter.
