INDIANAPOLIS -- A man police have dubbed the Halloween Bandit for his suspected role in a string of masked bank robberies paid his probation fees with stolen money, police said.

Von Eric Sweatt, 55, also know as Von Eric Squires, had his initial court appearance on Tuesday and was charged with five counts of federal bank robbery, 6News' Jack Rinehart reported.

Images: Bank Surveillance Pictures

Several Indianapolis banks were robbed in late 2009. In each case, the robber wore a mask of an old man's face.

Sweatt was arrested on Monday after police said he robbed the Fifth Third Bank in the 5900 block of East 71st Street.

Sweatt, who was wearing an ankle bracelet when he was taken into custody, had been sentenced to two years home detention for violating probation for a Hamilton County bank robbery, police said.

"Basically (he was) a typical client. He was doing everything he was supposed to be doing," said Ralph Watson Hamilton County Community Corrections. "We had assumed everything was going well."

Police said Sweatt used $24,000 in stolen money to pay all of his probation fees and buy a getaway car he used in each robbery.

The ankle bracelet that Sweatt wore was monitored by Hoch Consulting, a private vendor specializing in home detention and daily reporting for offenders.

"A bracelet will never stop somebody from robbing a bank. It will never stop someone from going where they're not supposed to be," said spokesman Eric Hoch. "We can't save everybody, but we try."

Sweatt was convicted in 1993 of robbing a bank and assaulting two federal officers, and is suspected of robbing 17 banks in the 1980s, police said.

Because of his previous convictions, authorities said Sweatt could be sentenced to life in prison if convicted on the armed robbery charges.

Federal officials, who said Sweatt confessed to at least nine other bank robberies that he was not charged for, are requesting he be held without bail until his trial. A detention hearing is scheduled for Monday.