Bank Robber Receives 30-Year Prison Sentence : Crime: James McGrath stole nearly $1 million in nine heists. His mental condition prompts the judge to decline a more severe penalty.

A convicted bank robber who was sentenced to 30 years in prison on Monday told a federal judge that he stole nearly $1 million from nine San Fernando Valley banks to warn the public of a coming thermonuclear attack by the Japanese.

Rejecting a defense that God told him to rob banks, a federal jury convicted James Ambrose McGrath in October on 18 counts of armed robbery and weapons violations in connection with a string of robberies that included the biggest bank heist in Los Angeles history.

McGrath, 49, is the author of a 300-page document about co-defendant Gilbert David Michaels’ life and a conspiracy involving banks and a candy maker who allegedly worked to destroy Michaels’ fudge-making business.

During his hearing Monday, McGrath told U.S. District Court Judge Harry L. Hupp that his primary motive for committing the robberies was “to warn the United States that Japan is planning a sneak thermonuclear attack against us.”

Moments later, Hupp sentenced McGrath to 30 years in prison, frustrating prosecutors who had asked the judge to impose a 165-year sentence on the nine-time bank robber. Prosecutors had hoped McGrath would be sentenced to consecutive terms as opposed to the concurrent terms that Hupp handed down.

“We disagree with the sentence,” Assistant U.S. Atty. Christopher Tayback said. “The government’s position is that (consecutive terms are) what the law requires.”

Tayback said he is uncertain whether he will appeal the sentence.

Hupp told prosecutors he would not impose a sentence that would equate to life in prison without the possibility of parole because of McGrath’s mental condition.

“Unlike many bank robbers who are robbing to build up their stash of cash . . . this bank robber was operating under a heavy mental state,” Hupp said.

McGrath’s attorney, John D. Robertson of Los Angeles, agreed.

“I think clearly life without possibility of parole would have been unjust,” Robertson said.

The FBI arrested McGrath and Michaels in March, 1992, following the robbery of a Home Savings of America branch in Woodland Hills. Authorities discovered a cache of 119 guns and more than 27,000 rounds of ammunition during a search of a lavish West Hills home the two men shared.

Prosecutors portrayed McGrath as a meticulous thief who used disguises and a series of getaway cars to avoid capture. They also alleged that he robbed for money that he spent to pay rent on the West Hills home as well as buy cars and motorcycles.

McGrath’s defense attorney, however, had urged jurors to find his client insane, arguing that he suffers from delusions of devils and fallen angels. He said McGrath has a severe mental defect that prevented him from realizing the moral wrongfulness of his acts.

McGrath testified during his trial that God told him to rob the banks and even advised him to use gloves and disguises.

“The Lord specifically commanded me to rob the banks, so that’s what I did,” McGrath said.

A March 8 trial date has been set for co-defendant Michaels, who recently was found competent to stand trial for the same string of robberies. Among the robberies that McGrath and Michaels were charged with was one in Tarzana that netted $430,000, the most ever taken in a Los Angeles bank robbery.