Holiday Bandit faces life after pleading guilty

Marat Mikhaylich, dubbed the Holiday Bandit for a string of armed bank robberies in New York and New Jersey beginning last December, pleaded guilty Thursday in Brooklyn federal court, authorities said.

The 36-year-old Ukrainian national had to forfeit the $70,000 he stole from nine banks, including ones in Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island, over a four-month period.

“The defendant was nicknamed the Holiday Bandit, but his victims felt anything but celebratory as he committed his crimes,” United States Attorney Loretta Lynch said in a statement.

Mikhaylich, who authorities believe was fueling a heroin addiction through his crimes, faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.