The father, Edward Ray Jr., 42, was convicted in Alameda County Superior Court in 2007 of 21 counts of armed robbery of convenience stores, drug stores and fast-food restaurants in Oakland, Alameda and Hayward.
He was sentenced to 38 years and four months in prison.
His son, Edward Ray III, 22, was found guilty of 29 counts of armed robbery and one attempted robbery. He was given an eight-year sentence.
The crime spree began with the robbery of a Longs Drugs in Oakland on July 12, 2005, and ended when the father and son were caught while fleeing after the robbery of a 7-Eleven in Oakland on Aug. 27, 2006.
Both were also convicted of being armed during some of the robberies and the father was additionally convicted of using a firearm during four robberies and inflicting great bodily injury during two.
The father received a heavier sentence because he was convicted of more violent crimes and because the trial judge, Superior Court Judge Allan Hymer, said he believed the son "may have been under the psychological coercion of his parent."
Edward Ray III was 17 at the time the robbery spree began.
A three-judge panel of the state Court of Appeal, in a ruling filed Monday, rejected a series of appeal challenges by the two men to the evidence and jury instructions at their trial.
Two other people, Melissa Ray, who was Edward Ray Jr.'s daughter, and her boyfriend, Larry Carrington, were charged with some of the robberies and were sentenced to probation.
