Armed Robbery

Nationwide, law enforcement has been cracking down on crimes that involve guns. Armed robbery is no exception. If you are arrested for using a firearm during a robbery, a determined federal prosecutor will be relentless in building a strong case against you. And he or she will fight to impose the maximum penalties.

Federal Armed Robbery

Armed robbery occurs if, while committing a theft, you use a deadly weapon such as a firearm.

Armed robbery violates both state and federal law, and it can be prosecuted in either Pennsylvania or federal court. However, federal convictions will draw much tougher penalties than state convictions.

Armed robbery cases tried in the federal court system include:

• Bank robbery
• US mail robbery
• Robbery of property that belongs to the federal government
• Obstruction of interstate commerce due to robbery as covered under the Hobbs Act

Bank Robbery

In the US court system, bank robbery is one of the most critical federal robbery offenses.

Bank robbery occurs when someone takes money that was in the care, custody or possession of a national bank or any bank insured by the federal government. These include credit unions.

The law makes it illegal to:

• Take or attempt to take money or other property possessed or in the care of the bank
• Take the bank’s money by force and violence or intimidation
• Intentionally assault someone or put someone’s life in jeopardy during the bank robbery

Motion To Suppress

If you are indicted for a federal armed robbery violation, your lawyer will examine whether or not you were actually the person that committed the armed robbery. The identification of who committed the crime may have been flawed because it may, for example, have come from a frightened witness who was too shaken to recall someone’s physical characteristics accurately.

Your attorney may be able to suppress the identification evidence against you, which will damage or destroy the prosecution’s case.

Your attorney will also check to make sure that federal laws were followed when law enforcement seized your weapon. If the correct procedures were not adhered to, your lawyer may be able to file a motion to suppress the evidence of the weapon.