YOUNGSTOWN — Anthony M. Salata was sentenced to seven years and two months in federal prison for robbing the Struthers Federal Credit Union on Poland Avenue on May 20.

The credit union was three-tenths of a mile from his home, also on Poland Avenue. He later told authorities he committed the robbery to “buy drugs and for expense for the upcoming birth of his third child.”

U.S. District Court Judge Dan A. Polster in Cleveland last week handed down the sentence. Salata has been in the Mahoning County jail since May 20 and gets credit for about eight months already served in the jail. Salata was ordered to make restitution to the credit union of $394.

Salata, 47, walked into the credit union at 808 Poland Ave. in Struthers at 9:30 a.m. wearing red gloves and a bandanna covering his face and told a teller he was there to open an account.

But Salata then told the teller he was there to commit a robber and said, “This is a stickup. Give me all the money, no dye packs. Remember, I know who you are and where you live.”

The teller gave Salata money from the register and he left with it in his backpack, according to an affidavit in the case filed in the case. Salata was federally indicted in June.

A dye pack is a radio-controlled device used by banks to foil a bank robbery by causing stolen cash to be permanently marked with dye shortly after a robbery, according to the affidavit.

Struthers police, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Mahoning Valley Violent Crimes Task Force responded to the bank. The teller identified the robber as Salata, stating that he frequented the credit union and had an account there.

The victim said Salata was “in a state of agitation, swearing profusely, shaking and moving sluggishly during the robbery,” the affidavit states.

Judge Dominic Leone III of Struthers Municipal Court issued an arrest warrant for Salata on May 20. The Boardman Police Department notified task force members that Salata was unconscious near a road in Boardman and later was awoken by first responders.

He had a large amount of cash with him, currency “bank bands” and a baggie containing a white, powdery substance in his pants pockets. He refused medical treatment and was questioned at an office in Boardman, where he admitted to committing the robbery, the affidavit states.

He later was taken to the Mahoning County jail.

Salata, who also has lived in Youngstown, has a lengthy history of criminal charges in Mahoning County dating back to 1993, when he was convicted of receiving stolen property and was sentenced to one year in prison.