The “Barbie bandits” who went on a shopping spree after they were videotaped wearing sunglasses and laughing during an $11,000 bank heist were sentenced Monday, one to prison and another to probation.

The Barbie Bandits’ brief time in the limelight nears its end this week with the sentencing of Heather Lyn Johnston, 20, and Ashley Nicole Miller, 19, scheduled for Monday in Cobb Superior Court.

Here’s a rundown of the joy and frenzy they caused after they walked into a Bank of America branch at an Acworth Kroger on Feb. 27, 2007.

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Allen

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Chastang

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Heather Lyn Johnston and Ashley Nicole Miller at Carter-Barnes Hair Artisans. The photo is from video surveillance provided by the salon.

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Johnston

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Miller

MARIETTA, Ga. - The “Barbie bandits” who went on a shopping spree after they were videotaped wearing sunglasses and laughing during an $11,000 bank heist were sentenced Monday, one to prison and another to probation.

Ashley Miller, 19, will have to serve only two years of a 10-year prison sentence and must complete the rest on probation. She pleaded guilty to theft and drug charges.

Heather Johnston, also 19, was sentenced to 10 years’ probation for her role in the February 2007 heist in Acworth, northwest of Atlanta.

The two were caught on tape as they appeared to rob a Bank of America branch in a supermarket. They admitted to plotting with a teller to take the money and later going on a shopping binge that included a stop in a fashionable hair salon.

Cobb County Superior Court Judge Mary Staley urged Miller to learn from her crimes.

“I want you to correct yourself,” Staley told Miller, a former exotic dancer. “There’s no reason you can’t become a productive citizen when you get out of jail.”

Miller’s mother and sister hugged and kissed her before deputies led her out of the courtroom.

Benny Allen — who worked at the bank as a teller — was sentenced to 10 years, to serve five. The judge imposed an additional penalty on Allen because she said he did not testify truthfully in the trial of Michael Chastang, a co-defendant convicted of his role in plotting the heist. Chastang is to be sentenced Tuesday.

Johnston was the first of the group to plead guilty, speeding up the prosecution of her co-defendants.

During her sentencing hearing, Johnston took the witness stand and between sobs apologized for hurting and embarrassing her family and friends.

“A lot of people look down on me,” Johnston said. “I feel terrible. I want to set a good example for my little sister. She’s a great kid. I don’t want her to end up like me.”

THE CHARGES AND POSSIBLE SENTENCES

Heather Lyn Johnston pleaded guilty to theft by taking and misdemeanor marijuana possession. Johnston faces a maximum sentence of 10 years.

Ashley Nicole Miller pleaded guilty to theft by taking and possession of Ecstasy with intent to distribute. Miller faces a maximum of 41 years.

Benny Herman Allen III, 23, pleaded guilty to theft by taking. Allen faces a maximum of 16 years.

Michael Darrell Chastang was convicted of theft by taking. His sentencing has been delayed.

THE DEMAND NOTE

Johnston and Miller called Allen several times for directions to the bank and instructions for what to write on the demand note. Allen dictated the demand note to them. They wrote as they drove to the bank. Johnston wrote a draft. But Miller ended up writing the one they gave to Allen. She covered her fingers in plastic as she wrote.

The note demanded “all loose bills. No strapped cash. Remember I will not hesitate to kill you. Keep hands where I can see them. Do not pull switch.”

SHOPPING

Although Chastang, 28, told Johnston and Miller to lie low after the bank job, the girls went shopping.

They stopped at Lenox Square mall and Phipps Plaza, where they picked up shorts, boots, a two-piece swimsuit, purses and makeup from Steve Madden, Abercrombie & Fitch, Hollister, Bloomingdale’s, Juicy Couture and Lucky Brand Jeans.

They got their hair done at Carter-Barnes Hair Artisans.

It wasn’t not all upscale — the girls stopped at a local Wal-Mart to pick up a 32-inch, flat-screen Sanyo television for about $1,000.

Police also found seven DVDs, a DVD player, an AM/FM radio/CD player and a Valentine’s Day card at their Atlanta apartment.

QUOTES

“Well, actually, we’re pretty dumb to tell you the truth,” — Heather Lyn Johnston to Cobb County police detectives Brad McEntyre and R.B. Smith during a one-hour interrogation after her arrest.

Taking money from a bank was “a bad idea. … [It was the] worst decision I ever made,” —Ashley Nicole Miller, testifying during the trial of co-defendant Michael Darrell Chastang.

The women “were down to get paid,” that is, they “would do whatever for money.” — Benny Herman Allen III, during his guilty plea on Feb. 1, 2008, on bank theft charges.

“I’m proud of you, baby.” — Michael Darrell Chastang, in a text message to Miller after the bank job.

A judge Monday sentenced two women dubbed the “Barbie Bandits” and a teller who helped them rob the bank where he worked.

  

This photo of the so-called “Barbie Bandits” made the pair a hot topic of water cooler conversation last year.

Ashley Miller, convicted of theft and drug distribution, was sentenced to the maximum of 10 years. She has to serve two years behind bars, with the remainder on probation.

She also has to pay at least $2,500 in restitution.

Her co-defendant, Heather Lyn Johnston, who pleaded guilty to robbery and drug use charges in August, was sentenced to 10 years probation with community service, a minimum $2,000 fine and $2,500 in restitution.

Benny Herman Allen III, who at the time of the February 27, 2007, robbery was a teller at the Bank of America in Acworth, Georgia, also was sentenced to the 10-year maximum. He’s required to served five years behind bars and pay $2,500 in restitution.

Miller and Johnston earned the “Barbie Bandits” nickname after police released bank video they said showed them laughing and joking behind fashionable sunglasses before handing a holdup note to the teller.

Investigators said Johnston and Miller, who worked as dancers at an Atlanta-area strip club, planned to split the $10,000 they stole with Allen, the teller who accepted their demand and handed over the money, and another defendant.

Herman met the young women through convicted felon Michael Darrell Chastang, who faces sentencing Tuesday for his role in the heist.

On March 2, 2007, Chastang, Miller and Johnston led police on a short car chase not far from the Six Flags Over Georgia theme park outside Atlanta and were apprehended. According to arrest warrants, police found marijuana in the car and ecstasy pills on Miller.

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