Man Who Robbed Area Banks Gets 150 Years to Life

A man with a lengthy criminal record was sentenced today to 150 years to life behind bars for robbing four banks -- one of them twice.

Jerry Lee Franklin, 40, was on parole when he was arrested in April after leading police on a freeway chase. He had three prior serious felony convictions, including drug trafficking with the use of a firearm.

He pleaded no contest to second-degree robbery charges stemming from holdups at U.S. Bank in Hacienda Heights on July 6, 2011; Bank of the West in Rowland Heights on July 12, 2011, and then again on Jan. 11; at a Citibank in Rowland Heights on Jan. 14; and at the First Federal Credit Union in West Covina on April 23.

Franklin led police on a chase along the San Bernardino (10) and San Gabriel River (605) freeways after the last robbery, slowing his white van so that a woman could climb in. He was arrested when police unleashed a dog on him after stopping the van near Whittier Boulevard and Penn Street.

In handing down Franklin's sentence, Pomona Superior Court Judge Steven D. Blades allowed for the possibility of parole.