Alleged Bank Robber from Casper Set to Change Plea on Thursday

A Casper man charged with attempted bank robbery is scheduled to waive his indictment and plead guilty in federal court on Thursday, according to court records.

Jack Steven Taber's appearance before Chief U.S. District Judge Nancy Freudenthal is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. in her courtroom in Cheyenne.

"If she finds enough factual basis to accept his guilty plea then she will do so, and once she does that she will order a pre-sentence investigation," said John Powell, spokesman for the Wyoming U.S. Attorney's office.

"That normally takes about 70 days to complete," Powell said. "Once that's completed, and both sides have time to review it and appeal if they want, he will appear before the judge and be sentenced at that time."

Taber was charged after he entered the Wells Fargo Bank at First and Durbin streets about 4 p.m. Wednesday, March 26, according to an FBI agent's affidavit filed with the criminal complaint on March 27.

Taber told a teller he was robbing her, was watching her, did not want to hurt her, and told her to put money from the top drawer into a bag, according to witnesses interviewed by Special Agent James Patrick.

The teller told Taber she didn't have any money, went into a back room and told another teller to call 911 and alert the Casper Police Department, Patrick wrote.

Meanwhile, Taber apparently left the bank and the victim teller did not see his departure. She described him as awhile male between 50 and 60 years old with a scab on the left side of his nose and wearing a blue Denver Nuggets hat and a black leather jacket, Patrick wrote.

Law enforcement officers determined this was Taber, later located him at the Natrona County Public Library, and taken into custody and questioned. Taber admitted he was in the bank, didn't know why and said he "'was going to jail for this,'" according to Patrick's affidavit.

On April 1, Taber waived his preliminary hearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge R. Michael Shickich, who ordered him detained because he had nine prior felony convictions.

Taber faces up to 20 years in federal prison.