A 21-year-old Cocoa man, identified as Phillip Johnson, is facing a slew of charges—including conspiracy to commit Hobbs Act robbery, robbery, and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence—after a violent episode unfolded during the early morning hours of February 1. Should he be convicted on all counts, Johnson could see himself facing a minimum of ten years to a possible life sentence in federal prison.

Johnson, along with two other individuals, are alleged to have traveled from Brevard County to Tampa with the express purpose to perpetrate a robbery, according to a criminal complaint filed recently. The accused trio, donned in all black attire and ski masks and armed with the menacing assembly of rifles and handguns, targeted the Dreams Club near Ybor City once they arrived in the Tampa area. This information was detailed in a statement from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Florida.

While the robbery was in progress, it's claimed that Johnson and his accomplices demanded money from their victim before Johnson allegedly shot the victim in the face. The U.S. Attorney's Office stresses that a criminal complaint is simply a formal charge and that every accused person is presumed innocent unless—and until—proven guilty.

The inter-departmental collaboration has brought the Tampa Police Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office, the Cocoa Police Department, and the State Attorney’s Office for the 13th Judicial Circuit in Tampa together to work on this case. Assistant United States Attorney Diego F. Novaes is slated to prosecute the case, which forms part of the larger initiative Operation Take Back America.