Detroit man says stress led him to rob banks

DETROIT (AP) — A Detroit man who said he started robbing banks to pay for his mother’s plumbing was sentenced Tuesday to two years in prison, a lenient term from a judge who said the defendant had been an “outstanding citizen” before his crime spree.

Prosecutors wanted U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman to stick with federal sentencing guidelines, which would have given Jimmie Lee Fortune five years to six years in prison for stealing nearly $14,000 from five Michigan banks.

Fortune, 29, pleaded guilty in March, with prosecutors agreeing not to charge him with three more robberies.

Fortune told investigators he robbed the first bank in April 2008 to fix his mother’s plumbing and get his driver’s license reinstated. After that, he just kept going.