Stathas also had been indicted for an attempted bank robbery, which would be dismissed if U.S. District Court Judge Walter Rice accepts the agreement after considering a pre-sentence report.
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The deal would cap Stathas’ sentence at 105 months, or eight years and nine months and require that he pay restitution. The maximum for bank robbery is up to 20 years per count. Sentencing is scheduled for July 6.
Wearing a white and oranged striped Butler County Jail outfit, Stathas replied, “Guilty” when asked for his plea by the judge.
Federal public defender Arthur Mullins said he estimated Stathas — a previously convicted bank robber who told investigators that he blamed heroin for his behavior — that a non-binding sentencing range would be from 92 to 115 months, or seven years, eight months to nine years, 7 months.
Rice read the statement of facts about both robberies, including that Stathas wore a mask and vaulted the counter in both cases. In the Fifth Third robbery, Rice said Stathas used pepper spray on the teller before fleeing on foot.
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Witnesses said in the Dec. 23. robbery that a man wearing a black ski mask and black hoodie, wielding a can of pepper spray, entered the bank and left with an undisclosed amount of money.
Police said Stathas also attempted to rob the same Fifth Third Bank, but didn’t get any money.
In the Key Bank robbery, Rice said Stathas fled in a vehicle that fled from officers in a pursuit partially caught on police cruiser came.
Police said Stathas robbed the Key Bank at 20 W. Whipp Rd. in Washington Twp. at about 1:10 p.m. Dec. 29. Witnesses said Stathas’ car was backed into an area that was not an actual parking spot near the bank’s door and that his car door was open.
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A bank employee said the suspect pushed her down and was wearing a blue ski mask, a blue shirt and blue jeans. A sheriff’s office report indicated $1,134 was stolen, but that an employee was able to push her panic button while the suspect was taking money.
Stathas’ plea was continued for a week when he apparently disputed the statement of facts read aloud in court that he pushed a teller.
Stathas was convicted in Montgomery County Common Pleas Court of robbing the same Fifth Third Bank in Kettering in November 2014. He was sentenced to a year in prison and had to pay back $924.91.
Stathas was in prison from Jan. 27, 2015, until Nov. 27, 2015, and was released from post-release control on Dec. 1, 2016. ODRC records show Stathas also served two years in prison from December 2006 to December 2008 for failure to comply.
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