Court papers: Alleged subway shooter Frank James expected to plead guilty in April attack

The Wisconsin man accused of shooting 10 people during a harrowing attack on a Brooklyn subway last spring wants to plead guilty to the charges, his attorneys said Wednesday in a letter sent to the federal judge overseeing his case. 

U.S. Judge William Kuntz scheduled a plea hearing for Jan. 3 in federal court in Brooklyn after receiving the letter from Frank R. James’ court-appointed lawyers, Mia Eisner-Grynberg and Amanda David of the Federal Defenders Office.

James’ decision to plead guilty comes days after federal prosecutors filed a superseding indictment charging him with 10 counts of committing a terrorist attack — one for each gunshot victim — or other violence against a mass transportation system, along with a count of discharging a firearm during a crime of violence. 

“Mr. James has advised undersigned counsel that he wishes to schedule a guilty plea to the superseding indictment,” Eisner-Grynberg and David wrote in the letter to Kuntz.  “If the Court is available, we wish to proceed during the first week of January 2023," the defense attorneys wrote.

James, who could be sentenced to life in prison, previously had been charged with one count of terrorism in a mass transit system and a weapons charged related to the terror attack on a Manhattan-bound N train in Sunset Park in April. He pleaded not guilty to those charges on May 13. 

Eisner-Grynberg and David did not immediately return requests for comment. 

James, who was born in the Bronx but resided in Milwaukee before his arrest, unleashed panic throughout the city after the April 12 attack. 

Prosecutors say he donned a gas mask and released a smoke canister on the crowded, early morning rush-hour train before opening fire with a Glock 9 mm handgun. Police said James fired the gun 33 times and 10 people were hit by the gunfire. Nineteen others were injured during the incident. 

James was able to flee in the aftermath from the 36th Street station, where the attack took place, and the fear continued until the following day, as New York City residents feared that an armed and at-large criminal was targetting straphangers. 

Authorities tracked James in part from the weapons he allegedly used in the attack, including his Glock, extended magazines, gasoline and four smoke grenades. They also asked rattled New Yorkers to help in the manhunt. But in the end, it was James himself who called police, law-enforcement sources said. 

James was arrested April 13 on the corner of St. Mark’s Place and First Avenue in the East Village, about 30 hours after the attack. 

Videos that surfaced while James was a fugitive showed him ranting against New York City Mayor Eric Adams and other officials for the way people suffering from mental illness and homelessness were treated. 

James’ lawyers did not explain why their client had decided to plead guilty and had indicated for months that he intended to go to trial. On Tuesday, James’ attorneys had filed a letter asking Kuntz to postpone his trial, which had been scheduled to begin Feb. 27, because they needed additional time to prepare. Prosecutors had opposed the request and Kuntz denied it. 

A report from the MTA inspector general last week found that surveillance cameras in the 36th Street station had been broken for days prior to the attack. The report blamed insufficient staffing, training and communication at the MTA for the outage.