Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
SOUTH BEND - Alleged Leesburg bank robber Criss Duncan, 44, Shipshewana, is set to go on trial in a South Bend federal court at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday.
Duncan will face charges related to the May 27 armed robbery of National City Bank where shots were fired at Milford town marshall Dave Hobbs.
In federal court, he will face charges of armed bank robbery, use of a firearm in a violent crime, arson and being a violent felon in possession of a firearm. Duncan also faces charges of attempted murder in Kosciusko County Circuit Court.
An accomplice, Ralph Berkey Jr., 44, Elkhart, chose to forego trial and plead guilty to bank robbery, aiding and abetting arson and carrying a firearm during the commission of a violent crime. He also reportedly accepted a plea agreement in Kosciusko Circuit Court to plead guilty to attempted manslaughter.
Berkey will be sentenced Jan. 9 and faces at least 15 years in prison.
Duncan has a prior felony conviction in 1983 of voluntary manslaughter.
