KANSAS CITY, Mo. – An Independence, Missouri, man pleaded guilty in federal court today to robbing three banks within a period of about a month in Lee’s Summit, Mo., Kansas City, Mo., and Odessa, Mo. Hubert J. Holmes, 61, pleaded guilty before U.S. Chief District Judge Beth Phillips to one count of armed bank robbery and two counts of bank robbery. Holmes admitted that he robbed three banks in 2019.
Holmes used a firearm to rob Summit Ridge Credit Union, 3485 N.E. Ralph Powell Road in Lee’s Summit on May 21, 2019. Holmes entered the credit union and demanded money from the teller. When the teller hesitated, Holmes displayed a silver handgun and slammed it on the counter. Two bank tellers gave him $13,243 and he left the bank on foot. Surveillance video footage showed that he fled to a blue van, consistent in appearance to a Chrysler Town and Country minivan, which was located in a nearby parking lot. While fleeing the scene of the robbery, Holmes dropped over $7,000 that was later recovered and returned to the credit union. A few days later, investigators received a tip that identified Holmes as the bank robber and provided the license plate number of his minivan.
Holmes robbed Central Bank of the Midwest, 9740 Wornall in Kansas City on June 7, 2019. Holmes, wearing a ski mask, approached a teller and demanded she give him $50 and $100 bills. The teller told Holmes she didn’t have larger bills and he responded, “give me all of them.” She removed $1,094 from her drawer and gave it to Holmes, who fled from the bank of foot. Investigators later matched a fingerprint from the scene of the robbery to Holmes.
Holmes robbed the Bank of Odessa, 201 S. 2nd Street in Odessa on June 20, 2019. Holmes put on a ski mask when he approached a teller’s window and demanded she open her drawer. Holmes reached over the counter and seized $3,099 from the teller’s cash drawer. Holmes then fled from the bank on foot and met an accomplice who was driving his van, which was parked nearby. Holmes, attempting to hurry, dropped money in the alley as he approached the van. Holmes picked up the money he dropped and got into the rear driver’s side of the van, which was being driven by another person.
Holmes was arrested on June 20, 2019, following the robbery of the Bank of Odessa. Shortly after the robbery, law enforcement officers began surveillance of Holmes’s residence. Officers saw Holmes driving a Chrysler Town and Country van, pulled him over, and arrested both Holmes and a passenger. Holmes had a large sum of money in his right front jeans pocket, including bait bills taken during the bank robbery. Bait bills are currency bills with known serial numbers that banks use to assist law enforcement officials in their efforts to trace currency to a bank robbery. The passenger, who matched the description of the get-away driver in the Bank of Odessa robbery, had $404 in his pockets. When officers searched the van, they found a Smith & Wesson 9mm semi-automatic handgun under the front passenger seat.
The plea agreement also refers to the robbery of Country Club Bank, 401 Armour Rd. in North Kansas City, Mo., on Dec. 26, 2018. Two men wore facial coverings and hooded sweatshirts when they walked into the bank. One of them walked directly to the teller counter, went behind the counter, and removed $16,000 from the teller drawers. He attempted to carry the cash in his sweatshirt, however, he dropped some of the cash as he walked out of the bank. The other thief remained at the door of the bank and gave verbal commands to all of the occupants of the bank. When they left the bank, they got into Holmes’s Chrysler Town and Country van and drove away. Holmes, who did not plead guilty to the indictment’s charge for this bank robbery, denies being involved. However, the surveillance video of the Chrysler Town and Country van, which belongs to Holmes, became an investigative lead later in this case.
Holmes was on federal supervised release at the time of these offenses following a prior felony conviction for bank robbery.
Under the terms of today’s plea agreement, Holmes will be sentenced to at least 10 years in federal prison without parole, up to a sentence of 15 years in federal prison without parole. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.
