Ex-Newport Beach Dentist Gets 5 Years In Prison For Robbing 7 Banks

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — A former Newport Beach dentist dubbed the "Rolled-Sleeves Bandit" was sentenced Monday to five years in prison for robbing seven banks up and down the Southern California coast.

Damian Newhart, 41, was also ordered to serve three years of supervised release after his release from prison and pay restitution of about $21,000, the amount he stole from those banks, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Kendall.

Newhart pleaded guilty to three bank robbery counts and admitted to four others as part of a plea agreement with prosecutors.

Newhart was arrested in January at Newhart Dental Center in Inglewood after he was recognized from security video the FBI distributed via local media. His dental license was revoked in 2014 after it was determined that he wrote bogus prescriptions for painkillers and other drugs for his own use, according to court papers.

His moniker was based on the button-down shirts he wore with the sleeves rolled up during the heists, according to the FBI.

In the holdups, which took place from November to January, he usually distracted tellers by saying he was a signatory on his girlfriend's bank account and asking for verification of that information. He then demanded cash verbally or with a note, saying he had a gun, prosecutors said.

Newhart admitted robbing four banks in Huntington Beach, and others in Hermosa Beach, Manhattan Beach and Santa Monica. He was on probation in Orange County at the time of his arrest.

Newhart was previously convicted of grand theft and passing bad checks, as well as prescribing controlled substances to patients and non-patients, including himself, for other than legitimate medical purposes.

(©2015 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)