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Former KC man pleads guilty to bank robberies in central Missouri

Gavel, File photo

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A former Kansas City man faces up to 40 years in federal prison after admitting he held up two central Missouri banks in 2010.

The U.S. Attorney’s office says 45-year-old Brian Dewitt Unthank pleaded guilty Tuesday to two counts of bank robbery.

Unthank admitted robbing a Landmark Bank branch in Columbia of $6,300 on June 18, 2010. Five days later, he robbed River Region Credit Union in Jefferson City of nearly $19,000.

Authorities quickly connected the two hold-ups based on descriptions of a man carrying a handgun and wearing a distinctive straw hat, but no mask.

Investigators connected Unthank to the two Missouri robberies after he was convicted in August 2011 of robbing a bank in Texas, for which he was sentenced to prison for 10 years.