NEW ALBANY, Ind. — A serial armed robbery suspect who escaped from a Louisville jail in 2020 has been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison.
Anthony Martinez, 32, of Scottsburg, Ind., pleaded guilty to robbing several banks in Kentuckiana and using a firearm during the robberies, according to the Department of Justice.
Court documents reveal between November 2015 and January 2020, Martinez robbed four banks in Louisville and a credit union in Madison, Ind.
Martinez would enter the banks disguised, demanding money and threatening to shoot employees if they did not comply with his demands.
The DOJ says he would brandish the gun, sometimes attempting to shoot it in the air, bound his victims with zip ties and order them into the vault or bathroom and tell them not to come out for 10 minutes while he escaped.
Authorities say Martinez stole nearly $380,000 during his crime spree.
In February 2020, Martinez was arrested and detained at the Louisville Metro Department of Corrections. Later that year, in September, he escaped from the jail.
He was later found and arrested again in October 2020.
The FBI, Louisville Metro Police Department, the U.S. Marshals Service and Indiana State Police assisted in the case.
A federal judge ruled that as part of Martinez's sentence, after his release he will be placed on probation for five years and must repay the hundreds of thousands he stole to the banks.
The DOJ says he was originally supposed to be sentenced on August 19, however while officers were transporting him, they observed Martinez attempt to remove his handcuffs, which had been tampered with using a small piece of metal in the keyhole.
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