A man prosecutors described as a "career" criminal who robbed a series of banks across the East Coast, including Calhoun, Ga., while a fugitive pleaded guilty to those crimes in U.S. District Court in Rome on Tuesday.

Anthony Ray Artrip, 38, of Ashland, Kentucky, pleaded guilty today in federal district court to the armed robbery of banks in Calhoun, Georgia; Mt. Airy, North Carolina; Princeton, West Virginia; Marmet, West Virginia; and Frenchtown Township, Michigan.

“Today’s guilty plea puts an end to the career of a man who unabashedly made his way across half of the United States robbing banks, victimizing citizens, and escaping justice,” said United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates.

According to prosecutors:

In the final 72 hours of his flight, Artrip drove more than 1000 miles and robbed the Regions Bank in Calhoun, Georgia, on the morning of September 27, 2007, when he walked into the bank, brandished a handgun, and jumped the teller counter to get the money. While pointing the handgun at the tellers, ARTRIP told them not to worry and referred to them as “ladies” and “sweetie,” and even told them to “have a good day” when he left the bank with nearly $20,000.

The robbery of the Regions Bank in Calhoun, Georgia, was part of a multi-state robbery crime spree in the summer and fall of 2007, that began when Artrip escaped from the Grant County Detention Center in Williamstown, Kentucky, on June 24, 2007.

Over the next three months, ARTRIP robbed banks in West Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, and Michigan, slipping away from near-capture by authorities many times. Shortly after his robbery of the Regions Bank in Calhoun, Georgia, ARTRIP narrowly escaped capture by police in Chattanooga, Tennessee. However, on October 8, 2007, Artrip was captured by United States Marshals in a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, hotel.

According to police reports, he had crawled into an air vent to try and evade his pursuers, but the U.S. Marshals evacuated the hotel and used tear gas to flush him out.

During this criminal odyssey, prosecutors said, Artrip was placed on the U.S. Marshal’s Most Wanted List, and was featured on the national television show “America’s Most Wanted.

Artrip was indicted in the Northern District of Georgia on January 9, 2008, on one count of armed bank robbery and one count of using a firearm during a crime of violence.

He was also indicted for the armed robbery of four other banks - two in West Virginia, one in Michigan, and one in North Carolina. He agreed to have all of his federal cases transferred to Georgia and pleaded guilty to all of the federal charges pending against him.

Sentencing is scheduled for August 27, 2010, at 1:30 p.m. before United States District Judge Harold L. Murphy.