TEXAS MAN CHARGED IN TWIN FALLS, MERIDIAN BANK ROBBERIES

A federal grand jury in Boise has returned a four-count indictment against an Irving, Texas, man, charging him with robbing banks in Twin Falls and Meridian in October.

The indictment came after a joint investigation by the FBI, the Meridian Police Department, the Twin Falls Police Department and the Idaho Falls Police Department led to the identification of a suspect in the robberies.

According to the indictment, John Christopher Badgett, 37, robbed a Wells Fargo branch bank in Twin Falls on October 9 and a Wells Fargo branch bank in Meridian on October 22. He was also charged with two counts of Possession of a Firearm in Furtherance of a Crime of Violence. The indictment alleges that at the time of each robbery, Badgett possessed a Daisy Powerline pistol, and that the purpose of the pistol was to help carry out the robberies.

Badgett has also been charged by the U.S. Attorney for the District of New Mexico with the robbery of a Wells Fargo bank in Belen, New Mexico, on September 18.

Badgett is currently in custody in Texas, but is expected to be transferred to Idaho to answer these charges.

An indictment is a means of charging a person with criminal activity. It is not evidence. The person is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.