CROWN POINT | Milo Walker Jr. struck an agreement Thursday with Lake County prosecutors that took 136 years off his potential maximum prison sentence.

The 25-year-old Gary man had been facing multiple felony charges for his role in a series of robberies targeting elderly in the region.

He pleaded guilty Thursday to four felony counts of robbery -- one count each in four separate cases, Lake County Criminal Court records show.

Walker originally rejected the plea agreement, but changed his mind just as prosecutors were poised to take the deal off the table, attorneys in the case said.

Defense attorney Patrick Young said he warned Walker about the pitfalls of going to trial.

"He made a decision that is not in his best interest," Young said when Walker first declined to accept the plea.

But when Deputy Prosecutor Michelle Jatkiewicz read the terms of the plea agreement in court, Walker said maybe he didn't understand it.

Lake County Criminal Court Judge Thomas Stefaniak Jr. detailed the potential outcome of a jury trial conviction versus the plea agreement, and Walker pleaded guilty, court records show.

The deal with prosecutors reduced Walker's potential maximum prison sentence from 188 years to a maximum of 52 years.

Walker, Brandon Green and Landon Shaw were charged with multiple felonies -- including robbery, battery and carjacking -- in connection with at least 24 crimes in Chicago, Hammond, Calumet City, Burnham, Lansing and Dolton, court records say.

Green was sentenced in September to 60 years in prison for his part in the robberies. Shaw's case is pending, and he rejected any discussion of a plea agreement in September.

Walker is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 16.