NEWS RELEASE

OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY

WESTERN DISTRICT OF MISSOURI

JOHN F. WOOD

Contact Don Ledford, Public Affairs ● (816) 426-4220 ● 400 East Ninth Street, Room 5510 ● Kansas City, MO 64106

www.usdoj.gov/usao/mow/index.html

OCTOBER 2, 2007

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

JOPLIN MAN INDICTED FOR ARMED BANK ROBBERY

            KANSAS CITY, Mo. – John F. Wood, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Joplin, Mo., man was indicted by a federal grand jury today for the armed robbery of Adrian Bank in Adrian, Mo.

             John Earl Hall, 44, of Joplin, was charged in a three-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Kansas City.

             Today’s indictment alleges that Hall used a firearm to steal $10,795 from Adrian Bank on Aug. 24, 2006. Hall is also charged with use of a firearm during a crime of violence, and with being a felon in possession of a firearm. The federal indictment alleges that Hall was in possession of a Makarov 9 mm semi-automatic pistol on Nov. 8, 2006.

            Wood cautioned that the charges contained in the indictment are simply accusations, and not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the charges must be presented to a federal trial jury, whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.

            This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Christina Y. Tabor. It was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the police departments of Springfield, Joplin and Adrian.