Jan 24, 2008 7:50 pm US/Eastern
'Hat Bandit' Gets 10 Years For Bank Robbery Spree
NEWARK (CBS/AP) ―
A serial bank robber dubbed the "Hat Bandit" because he wore different ball caps during his heists was sentenced Thursday to 10 years in federal prison.
James G. Madison, who eluded authorities during a 10-month crime spree, had pleaded guilty to six of the robberies on Sept. 11 and acknowledged committing the others.
Each bank robbery count carried up to 20 years in prison, but sentencing guidelines suggested a sentence of about nine years.
Federal prosecutors sought a sentence of about 10 or 11 years for the 50-year-old former machinist.
He did so after meeting with his reverend in prison soon after our jailhouse interview.
"He talked about how remorseful he was and how he still wanted to make contributions back to society," said Ron Love of the Christian Love Baptist Church.
Madison's girlfriend was there for him Thursday but refused any questions. In court, the 50-year-old read a statement that went as followed: "I am deeply sorry for the untold anxiety I caused the bank tellers, managers and law enforcement."
"A lot of times people are sincere afterwards but they're not sincere when they're committing these acts. Clearly he committed 18 bank robberies," said Steve Grassie of the FBI.
Madison, who served time in prison for the murder of his girlfriend in the 80s - started committing the bank robberies soon after his release. At the same time, he volunteered as a youth minister in church and even contributed money.
Madison was also ordered to pay back the banks over $81,000.
Madison's sentencing was delayed several hours after authorities mistakenly took him to the wrong courthouse.
In a four-page letter to the judge, obtained by The Star-Ledger of Newark, Madison pleaded for mercy, noting he never used a gun.
"I, too, remain a college-educated man who still envisions the American Dream -- raising a family in my own home in the suburbs," Madison wrote to U.S. District Judge Jose L. Linares. "I pray that this Court, Your Honor, does not preclude me from ever making that dream come true."
Madison eluded authorities from the fall of 2006 until late July 2007 despite being photographed several times on bank surveillance cameras.
At various times he wore baseball caps, ski caps and a fisherman's hat during the robberies.
Madison, of Maplewood, began his spree about a month after he was released from a halfway house after serving nearly 20 years in prison for the bludgeoning death of a girlfriend, Terry Wells. Her body was found in a suitcase in the Passaic River.
No one was injured during the robberies, which ended in July after a bank teller spotted the license plate on a getaway car. But Madison admitted that two of the notes he passed to tellers asserted he had a gun.
Federal authorities said the 19 crimes, which included an attempted robbery, represented almost 16 percent of the 120 bank jobs committed in New Jersey during the 10 months.
Madison might still be on the loose if he hadn't chosen to rob the Bank of America branch in Union Township last July 22.
He approached teller Steven Gomez and demanded $3,000. When Gomez' shock subsided and Madison began to walk out the door with the cash, the 21-year-old sprang into action and followed Madison outside the bank and through an alley, at one point removing his shirt so Madison wouldn't recognize him.
Eventually, Gomez was able to take down the license plate number of Madison's 2001 black Nissan Altima as it drove away. The Altima was traced to a woman who lived with Madison and the woman told investigators she had lent him her vehicle.
Even Madison's guilty plea produced drama. He was originally scheduled to plead guilty on Aug. 29, but appeared in court on that day and told Linares, "I do not wish to go through with it."
Thirteen days later, he went through with it.
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