Ananova:

A 91-year-old Texan who walks with a stick and is hard of hearing has admitted stealing nearly £1,300 from a bank.

It is 'Red' Rountree's third robbery in less than five years.

Leaning on his walking stick and wearing a headset to listen to the judge, JL Hunter, Rountree initially responded "not guilty" when asked for his plea at the court in Lubbock.

"I mean guilty," Rountree later said.

In August, Rountree handed a First American Bank cashier in Abilene an envelope with 'robbery' written on it in a red marker, prosecutors said. He gave her a second envelope, telling her to put money in it.

Twice the cashier asked if he was kidding.

After the first time, Rountree said: "Hurry up or you will get hurt."

A bank employee and some customers got Rountree's registration number as he left the car park. Authorities stopped him about 20 miles from Abilene.

His lawyer, Shery Kime-Goodwin, declined to comment.

Authorities say Rountree's crime spree began in 1998, a week before his 87th birthday. He was arrested in Biloxi, Mississippi, minutes after robbing a bank. He was given three years' probation, fined £170 and told to leave the state.

Less than a year later, in October 1999, he was arrested outside a NationsBank in Pensacola, Florida, after handing a cashier a piece of paper with 'robbery' written on it and telling her: "Give me the 100s."

He was convicted of bank robbery and sentenced to three years in prison, becoming the oldest inmate in the Florida jail system.

Now Rountree faces a maximum of 20 years in prison and a £165,000 fine in the Texas robbery. A sentencing date has not been set.

© Associated Press

Story filed: 07:27 Friday 10th October 2003

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