Source: Office of United States Attorneys
Tampa, Florida – United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces the unsealing of an indictment charging Malcolm Green (29, Tampa) with conspiracy to commit Hobbs Act robbery, Hobbs Act robbery, and use of a firearm during the commission of a crime of violence. If convicted on all counts, Rodriguez faces a maximum penalty of life in federal prison.
According to court documents, on May 27, 2024, Green and others robbed a convenience store in Brooksville, stealing approximately $8,000 worth of cigarettes. The following month, on June 24, 2024, Green and others robbed a retail store in Ocala, and another in Brooksville.
On June 28, 2024, Green entered a drugstore in Tampa wearing a black hoodie, blue medical mask, and black clothing. He walked behind the counter and lifted his shirt, displaying a pistol with an extended magazine to the clerk. After filling the bag with cigarettes, Green jumped the counter and fled in a sedan.
Within two hours of the drugstore robbery, ATF agents and deputies from the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office found the sedan used in the commission of the robberies in the parking lot of a store in Tampa. A traffic stop was conducted, and Green attempted to escape, driving onto the sidewalk in front of the business and striking a building column before being taken into custody.
An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed one or more violations of federal criminal law, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless, and until, proven guilty.
This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office. It will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Diego F. Novaes.