'Granddad Bandit' pleads guilty to robbing 2 Va. banks in long string of heists

'Granddad Bandit' pleads guilty to robbing 2 Va. banks in long string of heists: "Federal officials think that the mild-mannered Michael F. Mara stole $83,800 from 26 banks in Virginia, Florida, Texas, New York and elsewhere. His plea was entered in U.S. District Court in Richmond.

Mara, of Baton Rouge, began his string of robberies at a Richmond bank in December 2008. One of his last robberies was in August in Glen Allen, Va. Mara was able to evade authorities because he didn't follow the typical patterns of a bank robber.

He never robbed 'a bank in a state where he resided, and he would rarely rob the same bank in a given year,' said Shawn VanSlyke, acting assistant special agent in charge of the FBI's Richmond office.

'He would travel as far as Oklahoma or Syracuse from Baton Rouge just for the sole purpose of robbing a bank,' VanSlyke said.

Mara would sometimes rent cars using his own name, give a fake address and pay in cash to drive to other states to rob banks."