A jobless Washington state restaurant worker claiming more than $600,000 in hospital bills robbed at least six banks in four states before being captured after an Illinois holdup netted him $3,300, according to federal investigators.

Carl Frederick Kieffer's reported string of heists since late August came to an end Tuesday when authorities tracked down the 49-year-old man from Spokane, Wash., near a southwestern Illinois cornfield some two hours after he allegedly robbed a bank in O'Fallon, just east of St. Louis.

During a brief federal court appearance Wednesday in East St. Louis, Ill., Kieffer waived bond and preliminary hearings on a felony robbery charge linked to Tuesday's holdup and was assigned a public defender.

FBI Special Agent Daniel Cook, in an affidavit filed Wednesday, said Kieffer admitted robbing banks in Illinois, Wyoming, Ohio and Michigan before strolling Tuesday into the O'Fallon bank and scrawling on a bank slip that he had a gun. He then approached a teller.

Cook said the tall, gangly man with thinning brown hair handed the teller a manila envelope, gestured as if he had a gun and demanded currency in denominations of $100, $50 and $20 bills. He refused a stack of $1 bills the bank worker tried to give him.