Judge: Cedar Falls Bank Robber 'Went off the Deep End'; Given 30 Year Prison Sentence

Jay Michael Harkless, a former Cedar Falls resident who robbed six local banks in 2008 and 2009, has been given a 30-year prison sentence in Black Hawk County court, the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reported:

Judge George Stigler sentenced Harkless, 26, to 30 years in prison, noting the robberies caused fear in the bank employees.

“You just went way off the deep end,” Stigler said.

Harkless confessed to robbing six Black Hawk County banks, five in Cedar Falls and one in Waterloo. He also was accused of robbing five banks in other counties, as well as a rental store in Iowa City.

The Black Hawk County sentence will run concurrent with 20 years he is serving for robberies in Muscatine and Johnson counties.