SEATTLE — A Woodinville man nicknamed the "Alabama Band Bandit"s has pleaded guilty to robbing five banks during the month of July in Lynnwood, Bellingham and Shoreline.
Michael Ryan Hardesty of Woodinville also pleaded guilty to possessing a stolen firearm.
The FBI had offered a $5,000 reward in August for information on "a white male wearing a wig, glasses, and some sort of hat" who went into five banks in July and threatened tellers with a gun.
Hardesty was arrested in August and is being held in King County Jail on $500,000 bail.
He was dubbed the “Alabama Band Bandit” because of the hat he wore during one of the robberies.
Hardesty had recently been released from federal prison after being sentenced to seven and a half years in 2008 for possession of an unregistered firearm.
He had previous convictions for burglary, grand theft, and drug charges.
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