KAILUA-KONA — The case of Russell Monlux, a 30-year-old Hilo man who was arrested and charged with the robbery of the Kealakekua branch of American Savings Bank on Jan. 3, was transferred to federal court. ADVERTISING KAILUA-KONA — The case
KAILUA-KONA — The case of Russell Monlux, a 30-year-old Hilo man who was arrested and charged with the robbery of the Kealakekua branch of American Savings Bank on Jan. 3, was transferred to federal court.
Monlux, who was arrested the day after the bank robbery, faced state charges of first-degree robbery, second-degree theft and second-degree terroristic threatening stemming from the incident and was slated to make an initial appearance Monday in Kona District Court.
Instead, he made his initial appearance Monday in U.S. District Court in Honolulu, where he is facing a single charge of bank robbery, said U.S. Attorney Tom Brady, who declined comment about why the federal government picked up the case. According to U.S. Code, the charge carries a potential fine and/or a term of federal imprisonment not to exceed 20 years.
On Monday, Monlux’s attorney moved for a mental health evaluation.
Monlux also was arrested in June 2016 for allegedly passing a handwritten bomb threat to a teller at the Bank of Hawaii branch inside the Hilo Safeway store, after which he was charged with two counts of first-degree terroristic threatening.
Those charges were dropped with prejudice, meaning they could not be refiled, after Hilo District Judge Henry Nakamoto ruled Monlux was unfit to proceed based on an evaluation by the state Department of Health.
