Vermillion Man Pleads Guilty to Bank Robbery

A man who intended to rob an Iowa bank pled guilty June 23, 2011, in federal court in Sioux City.

Karlis Baisden, 23, from Vermillion, South Dakota, was convicted of bank robbery, using a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, and interstate transport of a stolen vehicle.

At the plea hearing, Baisden admitted that on the morning of April 6, 2011, as the First Trust and Savings Bank in Lawton, Iowa was being opened, he pointed a gun at the bank’s manager and said he was there to rob the bank. Baisden further admitted that while the manager was in the vault, a customer pulled up to the bank causing Baisden to flee in a vehicle he had stolen in Vermillion, South Dakota. Baisden was later apprehended by police after a short pursuit.

Sentencing before United States District Court Judge Mark W. Bennett will be set after a presentence report is prepared. Baisden remains in custody of the United States Marshal pending sentencing. On the bank robbery conviction, Baisden faces a possible maximum sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, a special assessment of $100, and not more than three years of supervised release following any imprisonment. On the firearm conviction, Baisden faces a mandatory minimum sentence of seven years’ imprisonment which must be served consecutively to all sentences imposed, without the possibility of parole and a possible maximum sentence of life imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, a special assessment of $100, and not more than five years of supervised release following any imprisonment. On the interstate transport of a stolen vehicle conviction, Baisden faces a possible maximum sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, a special assessment of $100, and not more than three years of supervised release following any imprisonment.

The case is being prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s office and was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Sioux City Police Department, the Woodbury County Sheriff’s Office, and the Vermillion, South Dakota, Police Department.

Court file information is available at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl. The case file number is 11-4052.