KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - A federal judge in Knoxville has sentenced a Pennsylvania man to life in prison for a multistate bank robbery-kidnapping spree.
U.S. Attorney Nancy Stallard Harr announced Tuesday that Michael Benanti of Lake Harmony, Pennsylvania, received four consecutive life sentences plus an additional 155 years.
After trial in February, Benanti was convicted of 23 charges, including conspiracy to commit bank extortion, and kidnapping, carjacking and extortion.
The case involved kidnappings of three East Tennessee bank-connected families, an attempted kidnapping and a bank robbery in Pennsylvania, kidnapping of a Connecticut bank employee and his mother, and a North Carolina grocery store robbery.
Benanti's partner, 46-year-old Brian Witham, received a plea deal that caps his sentence at 42 years.
Benanti denied involvement, and defense lawyers tried to convince jurors that Witham was lying.