Bank robber sent to prison for 37 years

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- The leader of a gang that robbed $1.4 million from banks in Ohio and two other Midwestern states was sentenced Thursday to 37 years in prison and ordered to repay the stolen money.
Otis McAllister, 42, pleaded guilty in February to conspiracy. Six of his associates are serving prison terms ranging from almost six years to 20 years.
McAllister and his partners staked out banks to learn the arrival practices of employees, stationed lookouts, deactivated alarms and used disguises, federal prosecutors said.
The robbers would force employees at gunpoint to enter the bank before it was open to the public and then go to the vault. A woman and her son were taken hostage in one case.
The robbers got away with money at nine of the 18 banks they hit in Columbus, the St. Louis area and Illinois from 2000 to 2005.