Tallahassee Felon Indicted on Hobbs Act Robbery and Firearm Charges

TALLAHASSEE, Florida — Laquinton Montral Harris, 36, of Tallahassee, was indicted in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida on one count of Hobbs Act robbery, one count of carrying, brandishing, and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence, and one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, the Justice Department announced May 8.

The charges cover a single alleged robbery in which Harris, already a convicted felon, is accused of using, brandishing, and discharging a firearm. Federal prosecutors must now present evidence to a jury that the robbery affected interstate commerce, satisfying the Hobbs Act element, and that Harris possessed and used a gun despite his prior felony conviction.

The indictment changes Harris’s legal status from suspect to federally charged defendant. Arraignment and pretrial proceedings will follow in the Northern District of Florida. Conviction on the firearm count carries a mandatory minimum sentence that must run consecutively to any sentence for the robbery itself.

Downstream, the U.S. Attorney’s Office must disclose discovery materials to defense counsel within deadlines set by the district court’s local rules and the Speedy Trial Act. A conviction would trigger federal sentencing guidelines that account for Harris’s criminal history, the discharge of the firearm, and any injury or loss tied to the robbery.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which investigated the case, will retain the physical firearm as evidence through any appeal.

This marks the latest federal firearms prosecution of a previously convicted offender in the Northern District of Florida. The Hobbs Act count reflects continued use of the 1946 anti-racketeering statute to reach street-level robberies that disrupt commerce, a charging practice upheld in multiple appellate decisions since the law’s enactment.

Primary sources: U.S. Department of Justice