EUGENE, Ore. – A prolific bank robber who garnered the nickname "the waddling bandit" for his unusual gait pleaded guilty Tuesday to robbing 10 banks in Oregon and Washington – and admitted to robbing 20 more - all in the span of three years.

Dante Peter Dapolonia, 63, of northeast Portland, entered the pleas in U.S. District Court in Eugene, admitting that he robbed banks from Medford to Everett, Wash. between April 2005 and this year, all without a weapon.

As part of a plea agreement, prosecutors will recommend that he serve 10 years in prison and pay back the roughly $91,000 he stole from the banks. His sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 14.

A tip led authorities to Dapolonia in April shortly after he robbed the Liberty Bank in Springfield. But his arrest was not publicized until June.

The U.S. Attorney's Office said Dapolonia pleaded guilty to robbing the following banks:

• April 2, 2005 – Washington Mutual Bank, 2855 Broadway St. N.E., Salem
• Aug. 8, 2005 – Bank of America, 1891 Pioneer Parkway, Springfield
• January 19, 2006 – Bank of America, 411 Three Rivers Drive, Kelso, Wash.
• March 1, 2006 – US Bank, 11012 Canyon Road, Puyallup, Wash.
• Feb. 26, 2007 – US Bank, 340 N.E. Beacon Drive, Grants Pass
• June 12, 2007 – Umpqua Bank, 2870 N.W. Town Center, Beaverton
• Sept. 4, 2007 – Washington Mutual Bank, 6495 Tualatin Valley Highway,
  Hillsboro
• Oct. 16, 2007 – Bank of America, 1250 Waverly, Albany
• March 31, 2008 – Bank of America, 1243 Marvin Road, Lacey, Wash.
• April 24, 2008 – Liberty Bank, 5880 Main St., Springfield

Dapolonia also admitted to committing the following robberies:

• 1 in Portland – Washington Mutual Bank on June 25, 2005
• 2 in Eugene – U.S. Bank on Nov. 5, 2005; U.S. Bank on Jan. 5, 2006
• 2 in Corvallis – Washington Mutual Bank on Nov. 3, 2005; Umpqua Bank on April
  10, 2006
• 2 in Springfield – U.S. Bank on Dec. 19, 2006; Umpqua Bank on Sept. 28,
  2007
• 1 in Medford – U.S. Bank on Aug. 2, 2007
• 1 in Roseburg – Washington Mutual Bank on Oct. 12, 2005
• 1 in The Dalles – Columbia River Bank on Dec. 16, 2006
• 1 in Cottage Grove – Umpqua Bank on Jan. 4, 2007
• 1 in Aloha – Bank of the West on Jan. 24, 2007
• 1 in Hillsboro – Bank of the West on April 16, 2007
• 1 in Hood River – Washington Federal Savings Bank on May 7, 2007
• 1 in West Linn – U.S. Bank on Oct. 4, 2007
• 1 in Albany – U.S. Bank on March 4, 2008
• 1 in Everett, Wash.) – U.S. Bank on Jan. 21, 2008
• 1 in Tacoma, Wash. – U.S. Bank on March 1, 2006
• 1 in Chehalis, Wash. – Security State Bank on March 5, 2007
• 1 in University Place, Wash. – U.S. Bank on March 5, 2008

Last fall, the FBI mistakenly arrested a retired Tillamook school teacher, 71-year-old Robert Christie, for the robberies, but he was eventually cleared and released.

The FBI also agreed to pay Christie a settlement to reimburse him for expenses he incurred during his arrest.  The amount of the settlement was not disclosed.