A Patton Township man, convicted last month of committing seven armed robberies and two attempted robberies in the Centre Region, has been sentenced to 22 3/4 to 45 1/2 years in prison.

Centre County Judge Bradley Lunsford told George Patton, 33, that he took into account his background but also the impact the crimes had on the lives of the victims when determining his sentence.

"I'm convinced that this was an addiction-driven crime," Lunsford said. "I'm not disputing that, last summer, he had an addiction that spiraled out of control."

He added that it was "shocking" and "disturbing" to find in a pre-sentencing investigation that Patton's drug history began when he was a child, and that Patton had been introduced to drugs by his parents.

"I am not a violent person, and I would never hurt anybody," Patton told the court. "There's more to the story than you know."