Man Pleads Guilty In 'Tri-Cities' Bank Robberies
LOS ANGELES (CBS) — A man arrested on suspicion of being the "Tri-Cities Bandit" pleaded guilty Tuesday to a series of Southern California bank robberies over the summer, federal prosecutors said.
Ernest Ivar Viana, 39, was charged in September with a dozen counts of bank robbery. His alleged getaway driver, 42-year-old Oleg Gorokhovsky, was charged with four counts of aiding and abetting, according to prosecutors.
The pair were arrested after a holdup at a First California Bank branch in Westlake Village, FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said.
Viana pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge Otis D. Wright II to bank heists in July and August in Glendale, Tarzana, Los Angeles, La Verne, Pasadena and Westlake Village, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
The judge set March 12 for sentencing.
In the final robbery, bank employees in Westlake Village told Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies that a suspect identified as Viana came into the bank and passed a note to one of the tellers, demanding cash in large denominations, sheriff's Sgt. Mark Bock of the Malibu/Lost Hills station said.
A description of the getaway car was broadcast across the region.
A sheriff's deputy on patrol near Topanga Canyon Boulevard and the Ventura (101) Freeway spotted a vehicle matching the description of the getaway car, and the two suspects were arrested in a traffic stop, deputies said.
The "Tri-Cities Bandit" got his FBI moniker after being linked to bank robberies throughout the region.
Gorokhovsky faces trial in January.
