A 47-year-old man has been charged with holding up a St. Paul bank at gunpoint, then laying low for more than two weeks until he became despondent about his crime and confided to a police officer that "I'm in all kinds of trouble" for something he had done.

David J. Greer, of St. Paul, was charged Tuesday in federal court in St. Paul with armed bank robbery and brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence in the Dec. 13 holdup of the U.S. Bank branch at 711 Cleveland Av. S., a few blocks south of St. Catherine University.

Greer came away with $3,952 in the stickup, authorities have alleged. It was during a Dec. 29 welfare check on Greer at his home that he said to the officer, "I'm in all kinds of trouble," according to the charges. Earlier, a relative called police and said Greer had been despondent and potentially suicidal.

He was taken to Regions Hospital in St. Paul for observation, interviewed there by investigators a few days later and confessed to the robbery, the charges added.

Authorities searched Greer's home and found the fully loaded gun used in the robbery hidden in the basement ceiling, according to the charges.

If convicted, Greer faces 25 years in prison for armed robbery and seven years for brandishing a firearm.

PAUL WALSH