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Evansville, Ind. man pleads guilty to Southern Illinois bank robberies

BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Monday, August 18, 2008 1:05 PM CDT

BENTON — A 23-year-old Indiana man says he robbed two southern Illinois banks.

Jacob Messic of Evansville, Indiana, pleaded guilty in federal court in Benton to two counts apiece of armed bank robbery and brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence.

The government says Messic stole more than $28,000 in robbing the First Neighbor Bank in the Clark County town of Casey in July of 2006; he then got more than $15,000 in a holdup of the Elkville State Bank in Jackson County the next month.

A co-defendant, Rodney Messic, already has pleaded guilty and awaits sentencing. It isn't immediately clear if and how the Messics are related.

The trial for a third defendant is scheduled for September 8th.