A Passaic man will serve 23 years in a federal prison for his part in a pair of armed bank robberies, according to the U.S. Justice Department.

Jose Soto, 53, was sentenced on Thursday, having been convicted of executing two daring bank robberies in Passaic and Paterson in February 2020, along with Nicholas Ortiz, of Paterson, according to charges filed by the U.S. Attorney's Office that same month.

On Feb. 6, Soto entered a PNC Bank in Passaic with an accomplice ― said to have been Ortiz ― U.S. attorneys claimed. While one of the defendants allegedly brandished a handgun and demanded all of the bank's occupants get on the floor, the other is said to have leaped over the counter and forced a teller to hand over cash from the bank's drawers.

Passaic County: Advocacy group calls for DOJ to consider consent decree for Paterson Police Department

Then, on Feb. 27, the two allegedly entered a Valley National Bank in Little Falls, where they were accused of pulling off a similar heist. But that time, they looted the bank's vault and locked all witnesses inside before fleeing through a rear exit, according to past statements from the DOJ.

Both men were eventually indicted on bank robbery, conspiracy and weapons charges.

A spokeperson the U.S. Attorney's Office did not immediately respond to a request for the current status of the court's case against Ortiz, who was not named in Friday's announcement.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NJ man sentenced for Passaic, Little Falls bank robberies