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GREENSBORO - Two brothers involved in a group of bank robbers known as the "Bluetooth bandits" pleaded guilty Monday to charges related to the robberies.

Eric Lynwood Payne, 31 , pleaded guilty to two charges of robbery with a dangerous weapon and two charges of conspiracy to commit robbery with a dangerous weapon.

Anthony Jermain Payne, 26, pleaded guilty to six charges of each crime.

Both men will be sentenced after the final defendant goes on trial. Each has agreed in plea arrangements to testify against Emmanuelle Khnak Dancy, believed to be the sixth and final member of the group. Dancy is expected to go on trial in April.

The so-called "Bluetooth bandits" robbed at least nine local banks in 2006 and 2007, taking more than $500,000 in cash.

The robbers wore Bluetooth wireless phone devices - thus the nickname.

Assistant District Attorney Bill Wood said that one of the crimes Anthony Payne participated in, a Sept. 25 robbery of a Sun Trust Bank , was described by witnesses as being disorganized. The robbers forgot a bag to put the money in, Wood said, and one robber hurt his leg while jumping over the counter.

That description contrasted with the disciplined and precise way most of the robberies unfolded.

The Sept. 25 robbery was different because ringleader Christopher Collins stayed in the car with his 2-year-old daughter while the other men robbed the bank, Wood
said.

Collins, whom police have called the leader of the group, was sentenced to at least 100 years in prison after being found guilty in February of 22 crimes related to the robberies.

Contact Sonja Elmquist at 373-7090 or sonja.elmquist@news-record.com