On October 1, Bank robbery apologist Jeffery Alan Adams, 38, was sentenced to 11 years and three months on October 1 for attempting to rob the Union Bank & Trust on the Downtown Mall. As you may recall, Adams’ heist began ending when city zoning inspector Cory Jordon spotted employees inside the bank with their hands in the air. Jordan called the police, who were only a block away, and Adams was taken into custody without incident.

The alleged getaway driver, John Joseph Amann, 27, also pleaded guilty and will be sentenced December 4.

As you might not recall, Adams penned a June 10 letter to the Hook apologizing to the City of Charlottesville, which the paper published.

“I would like to take this opportunity to extend my sincere apologies to the employees of the Union Bank and Trust and its customers, and to the people and City of Charlottesville,” Adams wrote, adding, “my professional respect to the Police Department for its fine and swift actions.”

Adams went on to compliment the “handsome” city zoning inspector who foiled the crime, cited Splendora’s gelato shop as an “excellent place,” (Adams was captured on the shop’s security camera shortly before the attempted robbery) and confirms his “desert island” CD picks (which the Hook had found on Amazon.com).

At first, Hook staff considered the letter a clever hoax by a bored fellow inmate, but a jail official confirmed that Adams was indeed the author.

The letter prompted a CBS19 news segment on June 27, featuring choice selections from Adams’ letter, including commentary from this reporter, and elicited a few chuckles from CBS19 reporter Phillip Stewart and evening anchor Dan Schutte.

“We don’t know if the letters are going to be subpoenaed or how that plays into his defense or prosecution,” this reporter told CBS19. “Right now it’s still sort of a mystery.”

The mystery ended the day after the segment aired, as an FBI agent called and then showed up at the Hook newsroom requesting the original letter. However, editor Hawes Spencer refused to hand it over without a subpoena.

Apparently, prosecutors didn’t need the letter to convict Adams, as the Hook never heard another word from the FBI. We did hear from Adams again, though, who informed us in a letter dated August 24 that he had been transfered to the Central Virginia Regional Jail in Orange County.

“The CVRJ is contracted to house all Federal prisoners in our region,” Adams wrote. “Apparently, the ACRJ spends a little too much on my upkeep to suit Uncle Sam.”

In closing, Adams said he found his booking photograph (upper right) to be “very un-flattering,” and suggested we lift some from his myspace page. Which we did.

According to the former Fredericksburg resident’s myspace page, his heroes are the late children’s television host Mr. Rogers and porn star Janine Lindemulder (”before she started doing dudes,” Adams notes). He enjoys “hiking and camping, rappelling, finding nice swimming spots in the mountains, going on beach trips, and road trips to NYC and Florida,” has a “serious weakness for redheads” and has “been known to do very foolish” things in pursuit of them. “I’m a romantic, okay?” he adds.

In his most recent letter, Adams agrees to a letter-based interview request following the October 1 sentencing, and the Hook is awaiting answers to the questions we mailed the quirky criminal.