How serious is robbery affecting commerce

| by Max Soni

Thanks for visiting Spodek Law Group. We’re a second-generation law firm managed by Todd Spodek – with over 40 years of combined experience handling federal criminal cases that others won’t touch. We’ve represented clients in cases that made national headlines, like Anna Delvey’s trial that became a Netflix series, the Ghislaine Maxwell juror misconduct case, and defended against Alec Baldwin stalking allegations. If you’re facing Hobbs Act robbery charges – robbery affecting commerce – you need experienced federal defense lawyers who understand how prosecutors use this statute to turn what looks like a state crime into decades in federal prison.

Robbery affecting commerce is extremely serious. It’s prosecuted under 18 U.S.C. § 1951, the Hobbs Act, which makes it a federal crime to commit robbery that affects interstate or foreign commerce “in any way or degree.” The maximum sentence is 20 years in federal prison per count – and that’s before any gun enhancements. If a firearm was involved, prosecutors will add a separate 18 U.S.C. § 924(c) charge that carries a mandatory minimum of 5 years for possession, 7 years for brandishing, and 10 years for discharge. Those sentences run consecutively, stacked on top of your robbery sentence. There’s no parole in federal prison. You serve at least 85% of whatever the judge gives you.

Federal prosecutors love Hobbs Act robbery charges because the commerce element is so easy to prove. Robbing a convenience store, a pharmacy, a gas station, a check cashing business – almost any commercial establishment – satisfies the interstate commerce requirement. The government doesn’t need to prove the business actually engaged in interstate transactions that day. Courts have found that even a minimal effect on commerce is enough, what they call a “de minimis” impact.

In 2025, we’re seeing aggressive Hobbs Act prosecutions across the country. Look at the actual sentences from recent Department of Justice press releases. In Texas this April, Harry Keith Dwyan Goffney got seven years and 10 months for conspiring to rob what he thought was a trailer full of cocaine and firearms. In Jefferson County, Texas, Cole Ethan Schroeder got 114 months – nine and a half years – for robbing a Nederland convenience store with a gun. His co-defendant Carley Melana Fowler got 63 months for the same robbery, even though she wasn’t the one with the gun. In Washington D.C., someone got 17.5 years for a spree of gunpoint robberies. These aren’t outlier sentences, this is what federal judges are handing down right now.

The federal sentencing guidelines make these cases brutal. Robbery under U.S.S.G. § 2B3.1 starts with a base offense level that increases based on weapon involvement. If a firearm was brandished or possessed, that’s a 5-level enhancement. If the gun was used to convey a specific threat – pointing it at someone, directing their movement – that’s a 6-level increase under the 2025 amendments to the guidelines. Your criminal history category multiplies the damage. Someone with prior convictions facing a Hobbs Act robbery with a gun could be looking at a guideline range in the 10-15 year range before the mandatory 924(c) time gets stacked on top. That’s how you end up with 20+ year sentences for robberies that might have gotten 5-7 years in state court.

Why do prosecutors charge these cases federally instead of leaving them to state courts? Control and leverage. They use the Hobbs Act to flip co-defendants, to pressure people into cooperation agreements. The threat of 20 years plus a gun mandatory minimum makes a 7-year plea deal look generous.

Defending Hobbs Act robbery charges requires understanding the legal elements and practical realities. The government must prove you committed robbery and that it affected interstate commerce. The robbery element has three parts – unlawful taking of property, from a person or in their presence, by force or threat of force. The commerce element is where some defense exists, though judges rarely grant motions to dismiss based on lack of commerce nexus.

Better defense strategies focus on the facts of the robbery itself. Did you actually commit the robbery, or is this a misidentification? Was force or threat actually used, or was this a theft that prosecutors are inflating into a robbery? If a gun was involved, who possessed it, who brandished it, who used it – those distinctions matter enormously for sentencing. A defendant who was present during a robbery but didn’t personally use the weapon has arguments against the 924(c) charge, though prosecutors will argue conspiracy and aiding-and-abetting theories.

Cooperation is a major factor in these cases. If you provide “substantial assistance” to the government under 18 U.S.C. § 3553(e) and U.S.S.G. § 5K1.1, prosecutors can file a motion allowing the judge to sentence you below the mandatory minimum. This is how someone facing 15 years might get 7 years instead. But cooperation isn’t simple – you’re providing information about co-defendants, testifying at trials, putting yourself and potentially your family at risk.

Acceptance of responsibility under U.S.S.G. § 3E1.1 gives you a 2-3 level reduction if you plead guilty and don’t minimize your conduct. That can shave years off your sentence. It requires an early guilty plea before trial preparation gets too far along. If you go to trial and lose, you don’t get acceptance of responsibility, and your guideline range will be significantly higher than if you’d taken a plea deal.

At Spodek Law Group, we’ve handled serious federal violent crime cases – robbery, kidnapping, murder charges – where the stakes couldn’t be higher. Our managing partner Todd Spodek is a second-generation criminal defense lawyer who’s spent many, many years in federal courtrooms fighting for clients facing these exact charges. We understand how the government builds Hobbs Act cases, how to challenge the evidence, and how to negotiate outcomes that minimize your prison time. If the evidence is strong, we’ll tell you that and focus on getting the best possible sentence through cooperation or acceptance of responsibility.

One thing people don’t understand is that you can be charged even if you didn’t personally commit the robbery. If you conspired with others, if you aided and abetted it, if you were the getaway driver – federal prosecutors will charge you under the same statute with the same penalties. Conspiracy under 18 U.S.C. § 1951(a) carries the same 20-year maximum as the completed robbery.

If you’re under investigation or have been arrested for robbery affecting commerce, time matters. The earlier you get experienced federal defense counsel involved, the more options you have. Before indictment, there’s sometimes room to negotiate with prosecutors. Don’t talk to federal agents without a lawyer present. Don’t talk to anyone about your case – not friends, not family on recorded jail phones, not cellmates.

We’re available 24/7 because federal arrests don’t happen on a schedule. When you’re looking at 15 or 20 years in federal prison, you need lawyers who’ve handled these cases before, who know the prosecutors and judges in your district, who understand the sentencing guidelines inside and out. Robbery affecting commerce is as serious as federal charges get outside of murder – it carries enormous sentences, and it requires a defense team that knows what they’re doing.