`Shootist,' Wife Sentenced

SEATTLE - A bank robber dubbed "The Shootist" who admitted robbing more than 50 banks over eight years was sentenced Friday to nearly a century in prison.

His wife also was sentenced.

Johnny Madison Williams Jr., who got his nickname for his practice of firing shots into bank ceilings during heists, and Carolyn Marie Williams were sentenced by U.S. District Judge Thomas Zilly.

Williams, 43, received 92 years in prison and his 34-year-old wife was sentenced to 20 years. Both were ordered to pay restitution of $879,357.

Both pleaded guilty in September to one count of armed robbery and one count of use of a firearm in a violent crime in a June 1991 heist at a First Interstate Bank in Bellevue. They also pleaded guilty to similar charges filed in bank robberies in Texas and California.

The pair also pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy covering all 56 robberies they committed in the three states.

The Williamses were arrested July 9 at a Seattle-area motel, ending what the FBI said was the longest-running serial bank robbery case the agency has investigated.