Suspect in 41 Heists Pleads Not Guilty to 6

A 25-year-old man who police believe is responsible for 41 bank robberies on the Westside over the last two years pleaded not guilty in federal court to six counts of bank robbery.

Eric Bernard Manson, also known as Lajesse James Jones, of Brooklyn, N.Y., is believed to be “the change-maker bandit,’ so named by the FBI because the suspect would request change before robbing bank tellers. He was indicted by a federal grand jury Sept. 28 and will go to trial Nov. 30, according to the U.S. attorney general’s office.

“I personally have never seen one person linked with this many bank robberies,” said Assistant U.S. Atty. Stephen Larson, who handled the indictment.

Manson was charged with only six counts of bank robbery, Larson said, because, if convicted of all six, he would reach the maximum sentence under federal guidelines. Each count carries a maximum of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Manson had previously confessed to police that he committed 11 of the bank robberies, but authorities deny any pretrial deal has been reached. “There is no consummated plea bargain agreement yet,” said Mary Carter Andrues, the assistant U.S. attorney who is prosecuting the case.

Manson’s attorney, Drew Edwards of the public defenders office, said the plea bargain negotiations are in progress. “Hopefully, a deal can be worked out, but that is hard to say right now,” Edwards said.

According to police, Manson would enter a bank wearing dark sunglasses and a baseball cap and ask a teller to change a bill. Once he received the change, police say, he would rob the teller. So far, police have linked him to more than $16,000 taken in nine bank robberies in the Westside area.

On Sept. 10, Manson was arrested fleeing from Home Savings Bank in Beverly Hills after that bank was robbed of $4,000. When placed in the patrol car, police said, Manson tried to hide about $3,000 in the back seat.

Manson, who has been in federal custody, has a warrant for his arrest in New York for bank robbery, the FBI said.