Ronald “Spigg Nice” Blackwell, a member of popular Queens, New York rap group The Lost Boys, was sentenced to 37 years for a bank robbery spree.The sentencing took place last Friday (January 16), with Blackwell being the last of four defendants to be sentenced.U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie labeled the string of robberies one of the most violent in recent New Jersey history.A jury found that between December 2000 and April 16, 2002, the four defendants committed 10 bank robberies throughout Burlington, Mercer, Middlesex, and Monmouth Counties.Blackwell must serve the 37 years in a federal prison and was ordered to pay $994,478 in joint restitution with his three co-defendants, who were sentenced on Oct. 14, 2003.Customers and employees described the robberies as “takeover” robberies. Two men armed with handguns would take control of the bank and move employees and customers at gun-point to a into a confined area within the bank.The robbers coordinated their movements inside the bank with the getaway drivers waiting outside using walkie talkies.The robbers also used a stolen radio scanner to monitor police activity.Co-defendants Lacy Goggans, 33, Ryan Washington, 31, and Trenell Coleman, 24, all of Queens, N.Y., are currently serving federal prison sentences of 594 months, 619 months, and 572 months.Because parole has been abolished in the federal prison system, the defendants must serve nearly all of that time.