A 58-year-old man has been charged for his alleged role in the assault earlier this month of a well-known Montgomery businessman who was bound, beaten, and robbed in a holdup at his dry-cleaning business.

Zedekiah Sykes is charged federally with armed robbery, carjacking and brandishing a firearm in a federal crime of violence, Middle District of Alabama Acting U.S. Attorney Kevin Davidson announced Friday.

Sykes is charged in the March 10 attack by a group of men on Jim Massey III at Jim Massey Cleaner’s on South Street in Montgomery.

Authorities described Sykes as the man who orchestrated the robbery and said he had been planning it for months.

He was taken into custody Wednesday and is set to make his first court appearance today.

Massey’s ordeal began at 6:10 p.m. that Monday when he was inside his business and heard a noise at the door.

When he went to investigate, Massey was confronted by four men dressed as construction workers, including hard hats and high-visibility vests.

The assailants grabbed Massey and forced him into an office where his locked safe was located, according to the federal complaint. Massey told them he didn’t know the combination from memory and would need his phone.

One of the men punched Massey in the eye. Someone else went and retrieved Massey’s phone.

Massey, documents said, opened the safe and stole between $6,000 and $8,000.

After collecting the cash, the men walked Massey back into an office where they bound his feet and hands with zip-ties, ripped the business’s phones from their connections and stole Massey’s cell phone and car keys.

All four left in Massey’s vehicle.

Moments later, all four suspects were captured on home surveillance cameras near Noble Avenue in Montgomery.

That footage showed them walking and one of them told the others to take off their jackets, which they did.

An investigation was immediately launched by Montgomery police, the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, the FBI and the Metro Area Crime Suppression Task Force.

On March 19, according to the criminal complaint, two men went to Massey’s business and told him they knew what happened.

They wanted money to tell him, saying they would need it to leave town after disclosing the facts.

Investigators then responded to the business, where those two people told them that Sykes orchestrated the robbery and had been planning it for months.

They also said they had been recruited by Sykes to help him carry out the crime. They met Sykes at a pre-determined location and were patted down to make sure they didn’t have any recording devices, the complaint states.

They got into a vehicle and drove by Jim Massey’s Cleaners, learning that would be their target.

Sykes also drove them to Massey’s home and said if they could not get him at the business, they would get him at his home.

The plan, the witnesses told investigators, was for the attackers to dress in all black.

Sykes, they said, later changed that to construction gear “as if they worked with Alabama Power Company since it would be daylight outside during the offense.”

Those two witnesses said they backed out.

“When they saw the news story of the robbery, they felt they need to inform the victim of what happened,‘’ an investigator wrote.

A confidential information also came forward and identified Sykes as the culprit.

The Metro Area Crime Suppression Task Force then began to conduct surveillance on Sykes on March 21 while he was at the Wind Creek Casino.

Sykes was then followed back to Montgomery and remained under surveillance and under investigation.

Authorities learned that Sykes’ credit card had been used to buy hard hats and safety vests similar to those worn by the suspects in the Massey holdup.

As investigator continued to watch Sykes, they saw him open the trunk to his Buick and spotted a large duffle bag that appeared to be similar to the one used in the robbery.

Agents also spotted bottles in the vehicle that appeared to be filled with urine, leading them to believe Sykes was living in the Buick.

No other charges have been announced.

If convicted on all charges, Sykes faces a sentence of seven years to life in prison. There is no parole in the federal system.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Paul Markovits.

Jim Massey Sr. started the dry-cleaning business in Montgomery in 1941. Since then it has grown into more than 40 locations in Alabama, Georgia and Florida.