A Greensburg woman who robbed three banks by threatening to blow them up with a bomb strapped to her body has been sentenced to three to six years in prison.

Westmoreland County Common Pleas Judge Debra A. Pezze yesterday sentenced Heather Marie Cordova. The district attorney's office had sought a sentence of up to 18 years. Ms. Cordova, 34, asked for leniency, saying she suffered from depression and suicidal tendencies.

She was arrested in a Harrisburg-area restaurant March 23, 2007, the same day she held up the National City Bank in Unity and the Irwin Bank & Trust in Hempfield. People who saw surveillance photos gave her name and location to police. She also was charged with the March 8, 2007, robbery of the PNC Bank in North Huntingdon.

She was charged with robbery and threatening to use a weapon of mass destruction to harm bank employees and customers. State records show she had been arrested six times on charges of receiving stolen property and stealing from retail stores. She pleaded guilty in 2006 to two theft charges in Allegheny County.

She will be given credit for the time she has spent in jail since her arrest in March 2007.