"Barbie Bandit" Pleads Guilty In Robbery

One of two young women who gained international notoriety as the "Barbie Bandits" for appearing to rob a bank while laughing and wearing sunglasses pleaded guilty on Wednesday to theft and drug charges.

"I regret what I did. I wish I could take it back every day," Heather Johnston, 19, tearfully told Judge Mary Staley.

Johnston and Ashley Miller were videotaped as they appeared to rob nearly $11,000 from a Bank of America in Acworth, Georgia, on Feb. 27. The incident turned out to be a theft involving a complicit teller, authorities said.

The young women were arrested two days later, after the two went on a shopping spree, ate a meal and even gave money to the homeless.

Police also charged a bank teller and another man, saying it appeared to be an inside job because of the amount of money involved.

Johnston entered the pleas to a felony charge of theft by taking and misdemeanor possession during the hearing in Cobb County Superior Court. She and her parents asked the judge not to send her to prison.

Assistant district attorney Jason Samuels asked for three years imprisonment on the theft charge and one year on the drug charge, to be served concurrently. He noted that Johnston was seen smiling during the theft, and later laughed about the incident during a nationally televised interview.

Staley said she will defer sentencing until after the three other defendants' cases are concluded.

After the hearing, Johnston told reporters she is prepared for the possibility of going to prison — and rejected the Barbie Bandit tag.

"It's something the media made up," she said. "That's not funny."