A Carroll County man accused of robbing a bank in Ellicott City as part of a four-state, nine-bank spree has been sentenced to more than 12 years in prison.

Zachary Scott Shanaberger, 31, of Westminster, was sentenced Sept. 7 in federal court in Baltimore to 151 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. He must also pay $22,584.50 in restitution.

He was arrested in Howard County after police discovered him sleeping in a stolen car.

A county police officer on routine patrol in October 2010 happened upon Shanaberger after seeing a 2003 Honda Accord at the park and ride in the 15900 block of Frederick Road in Woodbine, according to the Howard County Police Department.

The officer used a device called a license plate reader, which is mounted on a patrol car and can quickly scan the license plate of moving or parked vehicle, to read the Honda's plate. The reader notified the officer that the vehicle had been reported stolen just days before.

Shanaberger pleaded guilty to four counts of bank robbery, the department said. In his plea agreement he admitted to robbing banks last year in Delaware, Georgia, Maryland and North Carolina.

Four of the robberies occurred in Maryland; in each case Shanaberger gave a bank teller a note demanding money and indicating he had a gun, the department said.

According to the Justice Department, Shanaberger got away with $2,790 from a BankAnnapolis branch in Severna Park on March 6, 2010; $2,240 from a BB&T in Westminster on March 15, 2010; $479 from an M&T in Frederick on March 25, 2010; and $1,850 from the Howard Bank on Route 40 in Ellicott City on March 27, 2010.

The other five robberies occurred in a similar manner between Jan. 28, 2010, and Feb. 26, 2010, in Kennesaw, Ga., Roanoke Rapids, N.C., two banks in Marietta, Ga., and one bank in Dover, Del. Shanaberger pocketed a total of $15,225 from those robberies, the department said.