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

AUGUST 31, 2007

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NEW YORK MAN INDICTED FOR BANK ROBBERY

            SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – John F. Wood, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Brooklyn, New York man was indicted by a federal grand jury today for robbing Guaranty Bank in Springfield.

             Joseph W. Jean-Louis, 55, of Brooklyn, was charged in an indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Springfield. Today’s indictment replaces a federal criminal complaint that was filed against Jean-Louis on Aug. 24, 2007.

             The federal indictment alleges that Jean-Louis robbed Guaranty Bank, 2109 N. Glenstone Ave., on Aug. 24, 2007. According to an affidavit filed in support of the original criminal complaint, Jean-Louis was arrested by law enforcement officers shortly after the robbery when they conducted a traffic stop at Interstate 44 near the Strafford, Mo., exit on a yellow cab that witnesses had seen him enter. The driver of the cab told police officers that Jean-Louis gave him a $100 bill as a deposit to drive him to Camdenton, Mo.

            Wood cautioned that the charge contained in the indictment is simply an accusation, and not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the charge 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 Douglas C. Bunch. It was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Springfield, Mo., Police Department.