CONCORD – A Manchester man was sentenced to nearly eight years in prison for a series of bank robberies last summer and a check forging scheme.

Richard Joseph Perry, 36, was sentenced yesterday in US District Court to 7 years, eight months in federal prison and ordered to pay restitution totaling $3,632 to the banks he robbed and $2,885 to the relative he defrauded.

Perry admitted to robbing four banks last summer, two in Massachusetts and two in Manchester. He robbed Citizens Bank, 365 Lincoln St., Manchester on July 22, 2009 of $553; Citizens Bank in Wareham, Mass. on Aug. 6, 2009, $760; Citizens Bank in Hyannis, Mass. on Aug. 13, 2009, $679; and TD Bank, 300 Franklin St., Manchester, on Aug. 18, 2009, $1,640.

In each robbery, Perry handed the teller a note demanding money and each time the bank employee complied with the demand.

In the check forging scheme, authorities said Perry stole blank checks from a relative, made them payable to a friend and forged his relative's signature on the check. Perry had the friend cash the checks and turn the $2,885 over to him.

Perry will be on supervised release for five years.

The FBI, along with officers from Wareham and Barnstable, Mass., and Manchester police departments, investigated the case which was prosecuted by assistant US Attorney Bill Morse.