CHICAGO -- A federal judge has handed down a 46-month prison sentence to a bank robber who wrote his demands on his pay stub.

Under the sentence imposed this week by U.S. District Court Judge Robert M. Dow Jr., 41-year-old Thomas Infante of suburban Cary must also repay the $397 he stole from a branch bank on Chicago's northwest side.

Infante pleaded guilty in April to a felony bank robbery charge.

Prosecutors say Infante walked into the bank Dec. 26 and handed a teller a note demanding money. The note was written on the pay stub, which contained his name and address.

Infante's attorney had asked for leniency, saying that Infante acted out of desperation because he needed money to buy Christmas gifts for his girlfriend and her three children.