DAYTON - Michael Stathas, 33, of Dayton, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to two counts of robbery.
Benjamin C. Glassman, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, and Angela L. Byers, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Cincinnati Division, announced the plea entered into today before U.S. District Judge Walter H. Rice.
According to the Statement of Facts in this case, Stathas robbed two banks in Montgomery County in late December. On Dec. 23, he jumped the teller counter at a Fifth Third Bank in Kettering, Ohio before pepper spraying the teller and stealing the teller’s station money. Again on Dec. 29, Stathas vaulted a bank counter, this time at Key Bank in Centerville, Ohio. Once on the other side of the counter, he stole cash from the teller’s station.
Stathas fled the second robbery in his vehicle. Soon thereafter, police in marked vehicles attempted to stop him, but rather than complying with their demands, he fled at a high rate of speed, ultimately crashing his car near Moraine, Ohio.
As part of the plea agreement, all parties involved in this case have recommended a sentence of 105 months in prison. U.S. District Judge Rice will consider that recommendation at a future sentencing hearing, which has yet to be scheduled.
U.S. Attorney Glassman commended the investigation of this case by the FBI and Assistant United States Attorney Brent G. Tabacchi, who is representing the United States in this case.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
