An unemployed Santa Barbara man -- who had just bought a copy of "The Big Bad Book of American Bank Robbery" when the FBI arrested him -- was sentenced Wednesday to more than nine years in prison for robbing nearly two dozen banks across the state.
Buchon Buchanan, 32, was also ordered by U.S. District Judge Fern Smith in San Francisco to pay $84,885 in restitution for his spree that began with the holdup of a Bay View Bank in Menlo Park in March 2002 and ended with the heist of a First Bank and Trust in San Francisco in September 2003.
In between, Buchanan admitted to robbing -- or trying to rob -- 22 banks in Mill Valley, Sonoma, Novato, Santa Cruz, Millbrae as well as in Orange, Los Angeles and Ventura counties in Southern California.
Authorites found the bank-robbery book, chronicling the history of bank heists and describing various holdup techniques, in his car.
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Buchon Buchanan, 32, was also ordered by U.S. District Judge Fern Smith in San Francisco to pay $84,885 in restitution for his spree that began with the holdup of a Bay View Bank in Menlo Park in March 2002 and ended with the heist of a First Bank and Trust in San Francisco in September 2003.
In between, Buchanan admitted to robbing -- or trying to rob -- 22 banks in Mill Valley, Sonoma, Novato, Santa Cruz, Millbrae as well as in Orange, Los Angeles and Ventura counties in Southern California.
Authorites found the bank-robbery book, chronicling the history of bank heists and describing various holdup techniques, in his car.
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