Woman charged in Idaho crime spree pleads guilty to Las Vegas bank robberies

A woman who allegedly led authorities on a car chase in Idaho and shot her surrendering boyfriend before being shot by sheriff’s deputies pleaded guilty in federal court Tuesday to robbing two Las Vegas banks.

Hollee Raechel Johnston 39, of Colorado, pleaded guilty before Chief U.S. District Judge Gloria Navarro to robbing two U.S. Bank branches in January and using a gun in one of the heists.

The robberies occurred less than two weeks before Johnston’s violent encounter with deputies near Boise, Idaho.

Johnston and her boyfriend, Ronald Rice, who were wanted for thefts in Boise, were cornered in the parking lot of a motel in Bliss, Idaho, following the car chase, according to Idaho news reports.

Rice, the passenger, left the couple’s 2010 Nissan Xterra with his hands up but allegedly was shot by Johnston, who in turn was shot by deputies, the reports say. The injuries to both were not life-threatening and both were charged in Idaho.

Johnston was eventually put in federal custody and brought to Las Vegas to face the bank robbery charges. She was indicted by a federal grand jury in June.

On Tuesday her Las Vegas lawyer, Assistant Federal Public Defender Heidi Ojeda, sought to close the change of plea hearing and remove a reporter, but after a private conference at the bench with Ojeda and the prosecutor, Navarro refused to do it.

Navarro, however, ordered Johnston’s plea agreement sealed before setting a Feb. 5 sentencing date for the defendant.

Johnston acknowledged in court that an accomplice had driven the getaway vehicle, a Nissan Xterra, in both Las Vegas bank robberies.

She agreed to pay back the roughly $2,400 stolen from the banks.

Contact Jeff German at jgerman@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-8135. Find him on Twitter: @JGermanRJ.