BISMARCK -- A 59-year-old Arizona man who robbed banks in Stanley and Minot last summer has been sentenced to almost six years in prison.
U.S. District Judge Daniel Hovland on Wednesday also ordered Gary Wayne Thomas, who had been working in the oil fields of western North Dakota, to pay restitution to the banks. The money was never recovered after Thomas was arrested about a month after the Aug. 13 robberies.
Thomas pleaded guilty last fall to robbing the BNC National Bank in Stanley about 10:15 a.m. then driving east to Minot and holding up the Dacotah Bank in Minot about 3 p.m.
Police identified Thomas as the suspect based on a description of his vehicle leaving the Minot bank and a nearby convenience store as well as from bank surveillance video showing the clothing he was wearing.
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