WILLIAMSPORT — A New York City man has been sentenced to 32 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $42,000 in restitution for scamming banks in three counties out of that amount.

Jose A. Rodriguez, of the Bronx, was sentenced Wednesday on charges of bank fraud and aggravated identity theft to which he had pleaded guilty in August.

On seven occasions in December 2023, Rodriguez appeared at branches of Woodlands, C&N and First National banks in Centre, Lycoming and Tioga counties.

He used passports, driver’s licenses and debit cards in other people’s names to withdraw a total of $42,000.

Rodriguez was arrested attempting to make an $8,000 withdrawal from a Woodlands branch in South Williamsport on Dec. 18, 2023.

Following his arrest, according to the U.S. attorney’s office, he described a larger scheme whereby gang members from New York recruited people like him to come to Pennsylvania for a weekend to make bank withdrawals in exchange for drugs and a portion of the withdrawn funds.

Rodriguez claimed he and others spent the weekend of Dec. 15, 2023, in a hotel room, being driven from bank to bank to make withdrawals using various identification documents of unsuspecting victims.

The banks, the amounts Rodriguez withdrew and the dates were:

— Dec. 15: $7,000 and $6,500 from the Woodlands offices in Jersey Shore and Loyalsock Twp., respectively, and $8,000 from C&N’s Old Lycoming Twp. branch, all in Lycoming County.

— Dec. 16: $8,000 and $4,500 C&N’s Liberty (Tioga County) and Old Lycoming Twp. offices, respectively.

— Dec. 18: $8,000 from the First National office in Millheim (Centre County).

Rodriguez will be on three years’ supervised release when he gets out of jail.