OKLAHOMA CITY ? An Oklahoma City man believed to be the mastermind behind bank robberies in eight states, including Missouri and Kansas, has been arrested for allegedly robbing 15 Oklahoma banks.

Gerard Bennett, 31, was arrested Thursday night by FBI agents outside an Oklahoma City hotel after a short foot chase.

Bennett was arraigned Thursday on 15 counts of bank robbery and six counts of using a minor in a crime of violence. U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert Bacharach ordered that Bennett be detained.

According to a federal grand jury indictment unsealed Thursday, Bennett intentionally used one or two people younger than 18 in six of the Oklahoma robberies.

The bank robberies occurred in Oklahoma City, Edmond, Lawton, Stillwater, Ponca City and Enid.

The FBI says they believe Bennett is the mastermind behind 43 bank robberies in eight states, including Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Colorado, Texas, New Mexico, Nevada and Louisiana. All the robberies occurred at banks inside grocery stores between March 2002 and November 2003.

If convicted, Bennett faces a potential maximum of up to 20 years in federal prison on each of the bank robbery charges. He could face up to 40 years on the first conviction for using minors to commit bank robberies and up to 60 years for convictions on subsequent counts.