‘Traveling Bandit’ sentenced in 6-state bank robbery spree

MIAMI – The “Traveling Bandit” robbed seven banks in six states, federal prosecutors say.

On Dec. 28, at 3:21 p.m., he walked into the Capital Bank of Aventura. He handed the teller a note that said he had a gun and wanted money.

The man, wearing a sweatshirt emblazoned with “Straight Outta Dallas,” got $1,900 and ran from the bank at 20295 NE 29th Place to an alley behind a nearby grocery store, according to the criminal complaint.

It was the start of the bank robbery spree by Jason Lee Robinson, court documents show.

The FBI linked him to six bank robberies in North Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, Illinois and Utah. Surveillance footage shows him wearing the same dark baseball cap in several of the robberies.

Court records indicate the crime spree netted him $20,019 dollars.

Robinson, who pleaded guilty to all the charges, was sentenced Tuesday to 15 years and eight months in prison. He faced up to 20 years in prison.

During his sentencing hearing, Robinson, 40, told the judge he spent the money on drugs and gambling.

“When I committed the crimes, I knew if I was caught I never would see the light of day,” Robinson told the court.

Robinson drove a white SUV with Kentucky plates on his 3,000 mile cross country trip, the FBI said.

Agents from the FBI first began to suspect that Robinson was the roving bandit after reviewing photos of inmates recently released from federal prison who matched the suspect’s description.

Robinson was arrested in February in Fruita, Colo., after an FBI manhunt and a tip from his ex-wife.

Robinson had been convicted in 2009 of similar bank robberies in his home state of Kentucky. He was released from prison in 2013, prosecutors said.

Nine days after his release, he robbed a bank in Indiana, prosecutors said. He went back to prison.

Robinson was out on parole after serving time for that bank robbery, and restricted from leaving his home state, when he started his latest crime spree, records show.

“Clearly, he has no respect for the law,” Assistant District Attorney Mike Homer said during the hearing.