45 Months Behind Bars for 'Bearded Bandit'

SAN FRANCISCO – A Stockton man dubbed the "Bearded Bandit" has been sentenced to 45 months in prison in connection with a 2016 bank robbery spree across Northern California, U.S. Attorney Brian Stretch announced Thursday.

Kenneth Michael Ellis, 31, pleaded guilty in November to eight separate counts of unarmed bank robbery, prosecutors said.

He also agreed to pay more than $28,000 in restitution.

Prosecutors said Ellis admitted to using force or intimidation to rob banks in Fremont, Gilroy, Concord, Dublin, Pleasanton and Lafayette.

The robberies he admitted to all occurred in 2016 and included:

• $3,000 from a Chase Bank branch in Fremont on Feb. 12;
• $4,400 from a Wells Fargo Bank branch in Gilroy on March 4;
• $3,180 from a Wells Fargo Bank branch in Concord on March 11;
• $1,700 from a U.S. Bank branch in Dublin on March 15;
• $1,083 from a U.S. Bank branch in Gilroy on March 16;
• $1,434 from a U.S. Bank branch in Fremont on March 17;
• $5,145 from a Wells Fargo Bank branch in Pleasanton on March 17;
• and $4,600 from a Chase Bank branch in Lafayette on March 21.

Prosecutors said Ellis also agreed to pay restitution to three banks for robberies he committed in the Eastern District of California that included a Chase Bank in Elk Grove, a Wells Fargo Bank in Sacramento and a
Bank of Stockton in Rio Vista.

Ellis was arrested on March 23, 2016 by the Brentwood Police Department after investigators received a call from a citizen.

• ALSO SEE: Bay Area Man Sentenced for Fake Xanax Scheme

--Bay City News/Image via FBI