Old school criminal

The graying, balding man dubbed the "Granddad Bandit" pleaded guilty in federal court last week to robbing two Virginia banks and acknowledged two dozen other heists from New York to Texas.

Michael Francis Mara, 53, quietly answered "Yes, ma'am" or "No ma'am" but made no statement during a plea hearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Hannah Lauck in Richmond. He faces up to 20 years for each charge, but his plea deal with prosecutors calls for him to spend 25 years in prison. He is scheduled to be sentenced May 11.

Bank teller Annette Kizzie at the Richmond SunTrust told investigators in December, 2008, that a stocky, balding man with wire-rim eyeglasses and trembling hands handed her a note scribbled on the carbon copy of a check. He wanted $2,000 in large bills and demanded his note back. It was his first bank robbery.

"He looked like he was somebody's granddaddy," Kizzie told police. Over the next 20 months, the man who became known as the "Granddad Bandit" stole more than $83,000, crisscrossing the eastern and southern U.S.

He never used a disguise. He waited patiently in line and handed the teller a note demanding a specific amount, usually a few thousand dollars. Once he suggested he had a weapon, but authorities said there was no indication he ever used one.

Police connected the dots last summer. By August the suspect's photo was plastered on electronic billboards nationwide. Within a week, a tipster led them to Mara who, it turns out, is indeed a grandfather.

He was arrested last August after a six-hour standoff at the house in Baton Rouge, La., where he lived with his schoolteacher wife, who he married last year. Mara has a long criminal history that includes at least three stints in prison.

Mara is part of a rare but persistent demographic of older bank robbers. According to FBI spokesman Special Agent Darrell Foxworth, such criminals are usually men younger than 50, but there are plenty of exceptions.

In October, authorities snagged a man suspected of being the "Golden Years Bandit" when they arrested William McCormick Jr., 59, on suspicion of robbing five banks in the Los Angeles, Calif. area - a region the FBI has dubbed the bank robbery capital of the world.

In July, the "Old Man Bandit," 55-year-old Steven Gass, admitted to robbing 15 banks on a two-year spree in Florida, federal prosecutors told The Palm Beach Post.

A year earlier, "Baby Boomer Bandit" suspect, 64-year-old Salvador Sanchez, was arrested on suspicion of carrying out several robberies in Pasadena, Calif. And the FBI in Houston says Theresa Mary Gaas, who was 56 at the time of her 2009 arrest, robbed two banks, earning her the nickname of "Grandma Bandit."

The Los Angeles region currently has its own robber with the same moniker. The local "Grandma Bandit," a frail, straw-hat wearing woman in her 60s, is still at large, most recently robbing a bank in Palm Springs, FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said.

Some elderly offenders draw public sympathy and support, the most notorious being the "Geezer Bandit," who continues to evade the law after robbing 13 banks in the Los Angeles area. Estimated to be between 60 and 70 years old, the doddering crook has drawn thousands of "fans" on Facebook.

This kind of fascination with bank robbers goes back generations in America, with some venerating the most notorious - John Dillinger, Bonnie and Clyde and Jesse James.

The unlikely image of an older person robbing a bank only adds to the intrigue and may help in letting them escape.

In the "Geezer Bandit" robberies, his frail gait and inconspicuous manner attracted little attention. Often, the only person aware that a robbery was taking place was the teller.

"When he goes in, he is not drawing a lot of physical attention to himself," Foxworth said. "He will wait in line sometimes. When he gets to the teller counter, he tells them to give him the money or he will shoot them."

The bandit then shuffles out of the building and disappears.

Kizzie, the bank teller during the first Granddad robbery, says she remembers feeling sorry for Mara. She wondered whether he was on the verge of losing his house or if he just needed money to buy his grandkids a Christmas present.

U.S. Attorney Neil MacBride said that while Mara has not given investigators any motive for the robberies, he was not "hard off" and was employed with a vehicle transportation company.

"I'm just glad that he's off the street and he's not putting fear in anyone else's heart," Kizzie said.

Mara's federal public defender, Elizabeth Wilson, declined comment following the half-hour hearing on Thursday.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.