Olathe ? A man accused of robbing an Olathe bank, taking hostages and then trying to escape in an airplane apparently plans to plead guilty, according to court records.

In a motion filed earlier this week, the federal public defender for Bennie J. Herring II asked for a date for a plea agreement.

“Defendant does not desire a trial in the case, and wishes to enter a plea of guilty under the terms and conditions of the plea agreement reached by the parties,” public defender Michael Harris wrote in the motion.

U.S. District Judge Kathryn H. Vratil set a Dec. 21 plea date for Herring, who is being held and treated at the Medical Center for Federal Prisoners in Springfield, Mo. Herring was shot by five officers before he was arrested.

Herring, of Wichita, is charged with armed robbery in the May 18 theft from the Olathe branch of Capitol Federal Savings. He is also charged with one count of possessing and discharging a firearm in the furtherance of a crime of violence.

Authorities say after Herring entered the bank, he ordered 10 employees and one customer to strip to their underwear. Herring is accused of ordering the bank’s assistant manager and five other hostages to drive him in a van to the Johnson County Executive Airport. Prosecutors said Herring fired two shots at police from the van.

At the airport, Herring allegedly attempted to take an airplane with a flight instructor and student inside before he was shot.

U.S. Atty. Eric Melgren’s spokesman said prosecutors were proceeding with the case as if it would go to trial.

“Just because you have a date to enter a plea doesn’t mean you will,” said U.S. attorney spokesman Jim Cross. “In no way are you obligated to enter a plea.”

The Rev. Brad Cooper, who has spoken on behalf of the family, said Herring’s family remains shocked by the alleged crimes. He said Herring’s mother has visited him in Springfield.

“From the beginning she understood Bennie faced a long sentence of some kind,” said Cooper, pastor of Cross Road Fellowship Bible Church in Wichita. “The bottom line for her, as any mother would be, she’s praying for mercy for her son.”