A Tallahassee man who robbed a convenience store at gunpoint while masked will spend nine years in federal prison. Laquinton Harris, 36, of Tallahassee, was sentenced to 108 months for Hobbs Act robbery, brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, United States Attorney John P. Heekin for the Northern District of Florida announced on October 29. FOX 49 Tallahassee reported the same sentence the same day.
Source: U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Florida
The robbery: January 30 at the Z Mart on Fred George Road
Court records showed a masked gunman robbed the Z Mart convenience store at 4015 Fred George Road in Tallahassee on January 30, 2026, and discharged his firearm into the floor during the robbery, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. No injury from that shot was reported in the federal releases on the case.
Leon County Sheriff's Office deputies who investigated the robbery found an apparent bullet strike on the wooden flooring of the store and a spent .22-caliber shell casing — the physical evidence that later tied a weapon to the crime, according to court records cited by the U.S. Attorney's Office.
How investigators identified Harris
On April 2, 2026, agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) executed a federal search warrant at Harris's residence. Inside, they found a .22-caliber rifle that ballistic testing showed matched the shell casing recovered at the Z Mart, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.
Agents also found distinctive clothing that matched what the robber wore — including ripped pants and gloves shown in the U.S. Attorney's release — and Harris's DNA was found on both the pants and the gloves recovered in the search, prosecutors said. Harris pleaded guilty to the federal charges on August 10, 2026, according to the earlier federal plea announcement reported at sentencing.
How the nine years are built
The sentence is structured in two parts, the U.S. Attorney's Office said: 24 months for the Hobbs Act robbery and felon-in-possession convictions, followed by a consecutive 84 months for brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence. The consecutive firearm term is why a robbery that caused no reported injury still produced a nine-year federal sentence. On release, Harris will serve five years of supervised release, and he was ordered to pay $547 in restitution to the Z-Mart.
Source: FOX 49 Tallahassee
U.S. Attorney Heekin credited the investigative work in a statement issued with the sentence: “Our community owes a debt of gratitude for the outstanding investigative work of the Leon County Sheriff's Office, FDLE, and ATF, which swiftly led to the identification and apprehension of this dangerous thug so my office could successfully prosecute him,” Heekin said, adding that his office would continue to prioritise aggressive prosecution of violent crime in the district.
Source: U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Florida
Who investigated and prosecuted the case
The case was investigated by the ATF and the Leon County Sheriff's Office, with assistance from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE), and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney James A. McCain, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.
The prosecution was brought under Project Safe Neighborhoods, the Justice Department's nationwide initiative that coordinates federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement against violent crime, and which the department describes as a key component of Operation Take Back America, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
The Hobbs Act is the federal law prosecutors use for robberies that affect interstate commerce — which is why a single neighbourhood convenience-store robbery in Tallahassee was prosecuted in federal court, with federal mandatory consecutive time for the firearm count, rather than only in state court.
What happens next
Harris now serves the 108-month federal term, followed by five years of supervised release under the conditions the court imposed, and the $547 restitution order to the Z-Mart stands as part of the judgment, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. The sentencing closes the federal case that began with the January 30 robbery, the April search warrant and the August guilty plea.