‘Granddad Bandit’ Bank Robber Pleads Guilty In Va.

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — The so-called "Granddad Bandit" has pleaded guilty to robbing two Virginia banks and acknowledged 24 other holdups in 15 states.

Fifty-three-year-old Michael Francis Mara entered the plea Thursday in a Richmond federal courthouse. He will not be charged in other states.

Mara nabbed more than $83,000 in the heists, which began in

2008 in Richmond and ended just before his arrest Aug. 11, following a six-hour standoff with police at his Baton Rouge, La., home.

The FBI dubbed the balding and graying Mara the "Granddad Bandit" to help law enforcement and the public easily identify the suspect, whose picture was posted on billboards across the country.

The plea calls for Mara to spend 25 years in prison. He will be sentenced May 11.