The Associated Press

OWENSBORO - A man nicknamed the "potbellied bandit" was sentenced Monday to 10 years in prison and ordered to repay more than $86,000 for his conviction in a string of bank robberies in seven states.

The heists include several in Northern Kentucky.

Douglas Lee Poling, of Newport, Mich., had pleaded guilty to 21 counts of bank robbery, one count of attempted bank robbery and one count of interstate transportation of a stolen vehicle.

U.S. District Judge Joseph H. McKinley Jr. ordered Mr. Poling to pay $86,432 in restitution - the total amount he admitted getting away with - and $2,300 in special penalty assessments. Mr. Poling will be on supervised release for three years after he gets out of prison. Mr. Poling was captured a year ago near the Tennessee-Kentucky border after leading police on a 100-mph chase on Interstate 65.

He admitted to robbing 17 banks and credit unions in Kentucky, Indiana, Missouri, Illinois, Iowa, Tennessee and South Carolina.

At 5-foot-11, 260 pounds, Mr. Poling got his nickname after being shown on surveillance video with his belly bared during a robbery in Kentucky.