16 Years For Accomplice In Bank Robbery That Led To Tinley Man's Death

CROWN POINT, IND. — A Florida man who pleaded guilty to his role in a 2021 bank robbery that led to the fatal shooting of a security guard from Tinley Park has been sentenced to 16 years in prison, according to a report.

James A. King, of Miami, Fla., was sentenced Tuesday by U.S. District Court Judge Philip P. Simon, reports the Times of Northwest Indiana. King was one of four co-defendants, and the second to be sentenced.

Hailey Gist-Holden was sentenced in April 2023 to two consecutive life sentences, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Northern District of Indiana. The sentence also includes 2 years of supervised release to follow the life terms. A federal jury found Gist-Holden guilty of armed robbery and using, carrying, brandishing a firearm in the June 2021 robbery at First Midwest Bank in Gary, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

The jury determined that as part of the robbery and the discharging of the firearm, Gist-Holden murdered a bank security guard later identified as Richard Castellana, 55, of Tinley Park. Castellana was a former Cook County Sheriff's Deputy, and he retired in 2019. He served the Cook County Sheriff's Department for 35 years.

Prior to sentencing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Caitlan Padula said Gist-Holden should be given a life sentence because "there is no place in a just society for this kind of senseless murder," reported The Times Of Northwest Indiana.

For his part in the incident, King pleaded guilty in March 2022 to armed bank robbery and murder in the incident at a First Midwest Bank at 1975 W. Ridge Road in Gary.

"This was a tragic case and our prayers go out to Mr. Castellana's family," King's defense attorney Michael Campbell said, as reported by The Times. "We are thankful the Court recognized Mr. King is not inherently a bad person, he was a reluctant participant in the bank robbery and he endured significant manipulation at the hands of co-defendant Hailey Gist-Holden."

Gist-Holden and King were among four charged, along with Kenyon Hawkins of Georgia and Briana White of Chicago. Hawkins and White have both pleaded guilty; neither has been sentenced yet.

Gist-Holden and King reportedly knew each other through their semi-pro Illini Panthers MidStates Football League, of which Gist-Holden was reported as the owner. The pair reportedly robbed the bank to cover expenses incurred by the league, which included charges at more than one hotel, as previously reported by Patch.