A more-than-two-decade prison sentence for a convicted serial armed robber will be reconsidered after the commonwealth filed a motion noting five-year mandatory sentences for each charge involving a "visibly possessed firearm."

George Patton, 33, formerly of 147 Azalea Drive, was sentenced Thursday morning to 22 3/4 to 45 1/2 years in prison after he was convicted last month of seven armed robberies and two attempted robberies in the Centre Region.

The commonwealth, in a motion filed Friday, asked the court to reconsider Patton's sentencing on the basis that Pennsylvania law requires a five-year mandatory sentence for each count of a crime in which a gun is displayed.

The motion recognizes "reasonable notice" but says that "there is no requirement that the notice [be] made in writing" and that "the commonwealth provided more than sufficient notice to [the] defendant that it intended to see the five year mandatory ... "

Patton's attorney, Deborah Lux, objected to the mandatory five-year sentence at his sentencing Thursday because, she said, the commonwealth did not notify her in time.

If the five-year mandatory sentence were to be imposed on each conviction and run consecutively, Patton would be facing a minimum of 45 years instead of the current 22 3/4 minimum.

Centre County District Attorney Michael Madeira acknowledged Thursday that regardless of whether the mandatory sentence is applied to Patton's case, he has a long sentence.

"He is going to be in jail for ... well, for most of his adult life," Madeira said Thursday. "As it relates to the mandatories, we requested them because we thought they were appropriate."

Though the gun that Patton used in the course of the robberies was determined during court proceedings to be fake, all of the witnesses who testified at his trial last month believed it was a real gun.

Madeira added that the commonwealth sought a sentence that indicates that Patton's behavior over the summer "is not acceptable here, and we will prosecute you to the fullest extent."

The motion also requests that a hearing on the sentence reconsideration be scheduled before April 26.

Lux said she and Patton will determine if they want to file an appeal by the end of this week on the basis of inconsistent testimony, including when some witnesses said the robber had blue eyes and blond hair.