Ashanti's lawyer said his client was heroin dependent at the time of the unarmed robberies.
Springfield Police detectives place Jesus Ashanti of Connecticut under arrest on Dec. 31, 2010.
SPRINGFIELD – A 36-year-old Connecticut man was sentenced Monday to nine to 10 years in state prison after admitting to unarmed robberies at six banks in the Springfield area in late 2010.
The lawyer for Jesus Ashanti said his client was heroin dependent at the time of the unarmed robberies.
The money he stole in a robbery, lawyer James J. Bregianes said, “would go away in two or three days” to support the addiction.
He asked for a five to six year sentence for Ashanti.
Assistant District Attorney James M. Forsyth said in the robberies of six banks and a robbery attempt at a seventh bank, Ashanti passed a teller a note demanding money.
Ashanti pleaded guilty to the following unarmed robberies: Oct. 26, Bank of America in Springfield; Dec. 6, the Berkshire Bank on Memorial Drive in Chicopee; and Dec. 13, Bank of America on St. James Ave., Springfield.
Also Dec. 17, Citizens Bank, Memorial Drive, Chicopee; Dec. 21 New Alliance Bank, Agawam; and Dec. 31 Citizen’s Bank in Ludlow.
The attempted robbery was Dec. 31 at TD Bank on Chestnut Street in Springfield, shortly before the Ludlow robbery.
After being asked how much was stolen by Hampden Superior Court Judge Richard J. Carey, Forsyth listed some amounts taken, such as $15,000 total from the two Chicopee robberies Dec. 17 and Dec. 3.
He said the amount taken in the Agawam robbery was about $6,000, while Ludlow was slightly over $2,500.
Ashanti was arrested Dec. 31 by Springfield detectives who had a description of the getaway car used in the Ludlow and Springfield robberies that day. He said he was homeless.
When police stopped he car, Ashanti was covered with dye from an exploded dye pack put inside the money by the Ludlow bank.
Yannick Fanis, 26, of Hartford, who was driving the car Dec. 31, pleaded guilty to accessory after the fact of the Dec. 31 unarmed robberies.
Although Forsyth asked for a two to three year state prison sentence for Fanis, Carey sentenced him to 261 days –the time he has already served in jail before posting bail.
Gerund A. Mickens of Bloomfield, Conn., had been charged with the Agawam robbery but that charge was dropped.