NAPA, Calif. -- A Napa resident, dubbed the Highway 101 Bandit, pleaded guilty Monday to 20 charges in connection the robbery of 20 banks throughout California and Utah, the U.S. Department of Justice announced.

According to U.S. Attorney Joseph Russoniello said Arthur Eki Cheney pleaded guilty as part of a plea agreement to the July 7 charges stemming from bank robberies between June 18, 2007 and Dec. 12, 2007.

Cheney became known as the Highway 101 Bandit because most of the banks and credit unions that he struck were along U.S. Highway 101, including in Corte Madera, Petaluma, Burlingame, Menlo Park, Palo Alto, Campbell and San Jose. He also robbed banks not along Highway 101, including in Vacaville and Fairfield.

He has admitted to getting away with $46,040 without ever brandishing a weapon. During the robberies, however, he did threaten to use a pistol in at least seven of the robberies, the Department of Justice.

Cheney remains in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service and is scheduled to be sentenced before Judge Marilyn Hall Patel in San Francisco on Oct. 20. He faces up to 20 years in custody and $250,000 plus restitution for each charge.