ROME, Ga. — A Kentucky man is guaranteed to spend the rest of his life in prison for a series of bank robberies in Mount Airy and four other locations.

Anthony Ray Artrip, 38, was sentenced Thursday in U.S. District Court in Rome to two life sentences without the possibility of release.

Artrip, who was featured on the “America’s Most Wanted” television show after robbing First Citizens Bank on North Main Street in Mount Airy, had pleaded guilty on June 22 in federal court in Atlanta to that crime and the bank robberies elsewhere.

They occurred in Calhoun, Ga.; Princeton, W.Va.; Marmet, W.Va.; and Frenchtown Township, Mich. The robbery spree unfolded during 2007 after Artrip had escaped from a Kentucky penal institution in June of that year.

He struck First Citizens Bank on Sept. 14. No gun was displayed and no injuries were caused in the incident, during which Artrip jumped over a counter and emptied cash tills of an undisclosed sum before fleeing in an older-model sedan.

That was a similar scenario to the robbery in Calhoun, Ga., where Artrip walked into Regions Bank, brandished a handgun and jumped the teller counter. He told bank employees not to worry and wished them a good day before departing with nearly $20,000, according to investigators.

Artrip, who had been placed on the 15-Most Wanted List of the U.S. Marshals Service, was captured about three weeks after the Mount Airy robbery at a hotel in Bridgeville, Pa., in the Pittsburgh area.

Thursday when the case culminated with Artrip learning his fate, a federal prosecutor indicated that it was a good day for the American justice system.

“Today’s sentencing puts an end to the criminal career of a man who brazenly made his way across half of the United States, robbing banks and terrorizing citizens, and brings justice and closure to the many victims of his crimes,” said U.S. Attorney Sally Quillian Yates.

In addition to the life sentence, Artrip was ordered to pay restitution of more than $100,000 to the banks.