MANSFIELD - The so-called "Teardrop Bandit" has pleaded guilty to robbing the Citizens Bank branch inside Stop & Shop on Route 106 three years ago.

Robert J. Chadronet was sentenced Monday in New Bedford Superior Court to three years in prison after pleading guilty to a reduced charge of unarmed robbery for the holdup on Sept. 15, 2005.

The sentence was concurrent with prison time Chadronet, of Providence, is already serving. He was sentenced to four years in prison for the Feb. 24, 2005, holdup at the TDBankNorth branch in Foxboro.

In addition, Chadronet, 30, was convicted in Dedham Superior Court in connection with bank robberies in Sharon, Needham and Franklin. He received an additional three-year sentence and will have to serve a total of seven years in prison.

Chadronet also faces a federal indictment in New Hampshire for a robbery in Manchester, N.H. He was dubbed the "Teardrop Bandit" because bank video surveillance photos showed the robber had what appeared to be a teardrop tattoo under his left eye.

Chadronet did not have a tattoo, but authorities suspect he drew one on his face as a disguise, then washed it off.

The tellers in all the robberies were handed a note demanding money, and threatening that he was carrying a weapon, authorities said.

His lawyer for the Mansfield robbery, Anthony Mastromarino Jr. of Taunton, said prosecutors agreed to reduce the charge from armed robbery to unarmed robbery because he was never seen brandishing a weapon.

Surveillance video showed Chadronet in the bank with his hands on the counter, "but at no time did be brandish a weapon," Mastromarino said.

The note he handed to the teller said he had a weapon, but Chadronet never put his hands in his pockets during the robbery, Mastromarino said.

He was arrested in January 2007 after a joint investigation by police in the Metropolitan Law Enforcement Council and the FBI formed a task force to solve the robberies.

The Mansfield bank robbery was investigated by Detective Michael Ellsworth. Mansfield is one of about 40 police departments in the regional law enforcement group.

When police searched Chadronet's apartment and a laptop computer, they found photographs he took of himself, as well as bank surveillance photographs of the robber posted on police Web pages featuring information about the "Tear Drop Bandit" bank robberies.

DAVID LINTON can be reached at 508-236-338 or at dlinton@thesunchronicle.com.