San Diego

A Poway man who held up three banks as part of the “B.O. Bandit” series was sentenced Wednesday to nearly six years in federal prison.

Robert Harper Norris, 45, was ordered by U.S. District Judge Rudi Brewster to repay the banks $2,457 after he is paroled.

Norris, an unemployed carpenter, was arrested July 31 at his Poway residence by the FBI, who announced that they believed Norris was the robber nicknamed the “B.O. Bandit” after tellers told the FBI that he had strong body odor.

Norris robbed the Bank of America at 415 W. Felicia in Escondido on July 29 and escaped with $2,320. A witness saw him running out of the bank and wrote his van’s license number down.

Norris also pleaded guilty to holding up two branches of San Diego Trust & Savings bank in San Diego.

The “B.O. Bandit” was suspected of holding up 11 other banks in Rancho Bernardo, Rancho Penasquitos, La Jolla, Clairemont, San Marcos, Oceanside and Scripps Ranch.

According to court records, the U.S. attorney’s office agreed not to file charges against Norris in any holdups committed from May 16 to July 31, when Norris pleaded guilty to robbing the three banks.

Brewster imposed a sentence of five years, 10 months in prison, which was longer than the 57-month sentence recommended by a prosecutor.