After serving part of a six-year sentence for a 2003 bank robbery, parolee Daryl Lamont Keener went right back to his old tricks, authorities say, joining an accomplice in eight more bank heists in Colorado Springs.

It’s unlikely there will be a repeat performance.

Keener, 31, was sentenced Friday to 1,256 years in prison – a result of Colorado’s stiff sentencing for repeat criminals and one of the most severe penalties in El Paso County’s recent history.

“It’s shocking,” said Shimon Kohn, a defense attorney unaffiliated with the case. “I’ve been practicing criminal law in this jurisdiction since 2000, and I’ve never heard of these kinds of numbers, ever.”

Fourth Judicial District Judge David S. Prince imposed the penalty after Keener’s recent conviction for a 2011 robbery spree. Lead prosecutor Carissa Cruson was unavailable for comment Friday, as was Keener’s public defender, Lara Nafziger.

A co-defendant, Gary Cyprian, is due for trial later this year.

Police described Keener as a “career criminal” in announcing his March 2011 arrest, and detailed terrifying scenes in which Keener and a second man took turns storming into banks and ordering people onto the floor at gunpoint.

The men were arrested after detectives linked them to a getaway car captured on tape by a surveillance camera as it fled a March 3, 2011, robbery at Key Bank, 1115 Elkton Drive.

Among Keener’s charges related to the spree were multiple counts alleging he is a “habitual offender” – a sentence enhancer with the potential to quadruple penalties. Under Colorado’s sentencing laws, the multiplier would apply to each named victim in every bank robbed by Keener.

Getting to a total in excess of 1,200 years, however, required Judge Prince to exercise his discretion to stack those sentences rather than rolling all eight robberies together for a single triple-digit sentence.

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Contact Lance Benzel: 636-0366 Twitter @lancebenzel

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