A Oceola Township man has learned his prison sentence in connection with three bank robberies.

35-year-old Kenneth Kniivila was sentenced in two cases recently in U.S. District Court in Detroit. He entered into a new plea deal in September incorporating the case in Detroit federal court and another one from Ohio and pleaded guilty to two counts of bank robbery. Kniivila was sentenced last week in the Michigan case to serve 48 months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release. He must pay a total of $9,739 in restitution. $2,940 will go to the Fifth Third Bank in Monroe, while $6,799 will go to the Bank of America in Genoa Township. Kniivila was sentenced in a separate case Wednesday, which was related to the case transferred from Ohio. No restitution was ordered and he was ordered to serve 39 months in prison with three years of supervised release, which will run concurrent with the other case.

Authorities say Kniivila admitted that he robbed the Bank of America on Grand River in Genoa Township on January 11th, followed by two more bank robberies on January 16th in Toledo and Monroe. After surveillance photos went public, law enforcement was able to identify Kniivila as the primary suspect. The Livingston County Sheriff’s Office took him into custody without incident and a vehicle search turned up various items including four grams of suspected cocaine, two black semi-automatic pellet guns, money and green canvas bags. The Sheriff’s Office and the FBI interviewed Kniivila, who waived his Miranda rights and admitted to the three robberies. He told authorities he “lost his marbles” when he drove around Toledo looking for a bank to rob. (JM)