Aug 29, 2007 8:04 am US/Eastern
'Mad Hatter' Bank Robbery Plea Expected
Will Plead Guilty To Bank Robbery
NEWARK, N.J. (CBS/AP) ―
A mystery that spanned 10 months is to be answered Wednesday afternoon in federal court.
James G. Madison will acknowledge he was the hat-wearing man who robbed 18 banks in a $60,000 spree that began in September and ended with his arrest July 23, according to an official with knowledge of the case.
Madison, an ex-convict, is expected to plead guilty to several bank robbery counts on Wednesday, according to the official. A second official with knowledge of the case also said that Madison was expected to plead guilty.
Both spoke only on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to discuss the case publicly.
Federal prosecutors on Tuesday said a hearing for Madison was scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Wednesday before U.S. District Judge Jose L. Linares, but declined to describe the nature of the proceeding.
In a jailhouse interview with CBS 2 News after his arrest, the balding 50-year-old machinist initially denied being involved in the robberies, but he has since recanted and blamed "mitigating circumstances" for the crime spree.
"But I'm not saying I'm some Robin Hood," he told The Star-Ledger of Newark in Tuesday's editions. "I'm not."
Madison was released last year from a halfway house after serving nearly 20 years in prison for the bludgeoning death of a girlfriend. But finances got tight on a $42,000 annual income, he told the newspaper.
"My rent was like $690 a month, car insurance, other bills. There's not much left," he said. "I'm not saying that's an excuse."
Madison has been held without bail since his arrest, which came a day after authorities said he robbed a bank in Union Township.
That robbery led to the break that authorities had failed to get with wanted posters and surveillance tapes: A bank employee wrote down the license number of a black Nissan Altima used in the robbery.
The Altima was traced to a woman who lives with Madison. The woman told investigators she had lent him her vehicle, authorities said.
Madison, 50, of Maplewood, was only indicted on a single count of bank robbery for that robbery, at a Bank of America Branch. The charge carries up to 20 years in prison.
The robbery at that bank followed the pattern of other robberies attributed to the elusive Mad Hatter: a hat-wearing man who quietly passed a note to a teller demanding money. The FBI has said the notes were similar.
Madison had been imprisoned after being convicted of manslaughter in the January 1986 death of Terry Wells. Her body was found in a suitcase in the Passaic River.
Authorities said Madison, a tool and dye maker who lived in Plainfield at the time, struck the woman with a lamp during a fight.
(© 2007 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
