An escaped convict who robbed banks in Georgia and three other states pleaded guilty to armed robbery Tuesday and could get life in prison.
Anthony Ray Artrip, 38, of Ashland, Ky., went on a bank-robbing spree in 2007 after escaping from a Kentucky jail, according to U.S. Attorney Sally Quillian Yates.
On Sept. 27, 2007, he walked into the Regions Bank in Calhoun, brandished a handgun and pointed it at the tellers. He told them not to worry, called them "ladies" and "sweetie" and even bade them a good day as he left with nearly $20,000, Yates said.
Artrip was captured on Oct. 8, 2007 when U.S. Marshals cornered him in a Pittsburgh hotel. He tried to hide in an air vent, but the Marshals evacuated the hotel and flushed him out with tear gas. The fugitive, who was featured on America's Most Wanted, robbed other banks in West Virginia, Michigan and North Carolina before his arrest, Yates said.
Artrip is scheduled for sentencing on Aug. 27 by U.S. District Judge Harold L. Murphy, and Yates said he likely will get life in prison without parole.
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