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Blackjack player pleads guilty to leaving West Virginia casino to rob bank

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A West Virginia man has admitted to leaving a casino to rob a bank before returning to continue gambling.

The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports 52-year-old Kerry Johnson of Charleston pleaded guilty Wednesday to a robbery charge.

Johnson had been at the Mardi Gras Casino in Nitro for hours Aug. 2 when he put down a $25 chip to hold his spot. Prosecutors said Johnson then drove 13 miles to a Charleston bank and gave tellers a note saying he had a bomb and a weapon and robbed it.

Johnson then returned to the blackjack table and kept gambling.

Johnson told a judge he’d taken quite a few drugs that day, but recognized himself after seeing video from the bank.

He faces five to 18 years in prison when sentenced in March.

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