Utah man pleads guilty to 4-state bank robberies

POWELL, Wyo. — A Utah man has pleaded guilty to holding up banks in four states after being released from jail to go to the dentist.

Thirty-two-year-old Joshua Michael Beckstead pleaded guilty to five felony counts of bank robbery in federal court in Casper on Wednesday. The robberies occurred in Cody and Cheyenne as well as Montana, Oklahoma and Utah.

Beckstead was in jail in Utah for allegedly passing forged checks when a judge allowed him out on May 8 to go to the dentist. He never showed up or returned to jail. He started the robbery spree the following week by holding up a credit union in Ogden. He was arrested in Bismarck, N.D. on July 4 after raising suspicions.

The Powell Tribune reported that he will be sentenced Feb. 27.