A 37-year-old Tampa man who pointed a gun at a pizza shop clerk during an October 2024 robbery on Fowler Avenue is headed to federal prison for 18 years. Justin Alan Seymour was sentenced by a federal judge after a jury convicted him earlier this year on charges tied to the armed holdup, capping nearly two years of investigation that stretched from a delivery driver's dashcam to cell tower records.
U.S. District Judge Virginia M. Hernandez Covington handed down the sentence, according to the seed story published by finchannel, which reported that U.S. Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe announced the outcome. The robbery itself took place on October 21, 2024, at a pizza shop on Fowler Avenue, a busy commercial stretch in North Tampa near the University of South Florida, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Investigators moved fast. Just two days after the robbery, Hillsborough County Sheriff's deputies and Tampa Police officers pulled Seymour's car over and found a firearm in his waistband, per the Justice Department's account. Officers had zeroed in on the vehicle after reviewing dashcam video from a delivery vehicle parked outside the store, which captured distinct characteristics of the suspect's car, the same account states.
How Investigators Built Their Case
The probe drew on multiple agencies working together. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office, and the Tampa Police Department all investigated the case, with the FBI providing cellular phone location analysis that placed Seymour's phone near the pizza store at the time of the robbery, the department's release notes.
That combination of dashcam footage, a rapid traffic stop, and cell tower data gave prosecutors a tight evidentiary foundation heading into trial. A federal grand jury initially indicted Seymour on a single count of felon in possession of a firearm, then returned a superseding indictment in January 2025 that added Hobbs Act robbery and firearm brandishing charges, according to the Justice Department. A federal jury found him guilty on all counts in April 2026.
Assistant United States Attorney Samantha Newman prosecuted the case. Seymour had a prior felony conviction for attempted robbery with a firearm or deadly weapon, and federal law bars him from possessing a firearm or ammunition going forward.
Why the Sentence Stacks Up to 18 Years
The math behind Seymour's sentence reflects how federal firearm enhancements pile onto underlying charges. A Hobbs Act robbery conviction under 18 U.S.C. § 1951 carries a maximum statutory penalty of up to 20 years in federal prison, according to a report from Every CRS Report. Separately, brandishing a firearm during a federal crime of violence under 18 U.S.C. § 924(c) carries a mandatory minimum of 7 years that must be served consecutively — not concurrently — with any robbery sentence, per the United States Sentencing Commission.
On top of that, possessing a firearm as a convicted felon under 18 U.S.C. § 924(a)(8) now carries a statutory maximum of up to 15 years, after Congress raised the ceiling from 10 years under the 2022 Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the Justice Department notes. Because federal law abolished parole, Seymour will have to serve at least 85 percent of his 18-year sentence under 18 U.S.C. § 3624(b) before any chance of supervised release, according to DCD Law.
Why a Neighborhood Robbery Landed in Federal Court
Robberies of local businesses are often handled by state courts, but this one qualified for federal prosecution because Hobbs Act jurisdiction only requires a minimal, or de minimis, effect on interstate commerce — satisfied when a local business buys or sells goods made outside Florida, according to Deandra Grant Law. A pizza shop stocking out-of-state ingredients meets that bar.
Tampa's designation as a Targeted Enforcement Area under Project Safe Neighborhoods grant funding, administered by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the DOJ, also factored into why this case was prioritized for federal action, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Project Safe Neighborhoods is a Department of Justice nationwide initiative coordinated by U.S. attorneys' offices across all 94 federal districts, bringing together federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement, prosecutors and public safety partners to combat violent crime.
The initiative emphasizes rapid federal response to violent offenders, strategic partnerships among agencies, and accountability and deterrence through prosecution. Seymour's case is part of that broader effort, which has surfaced in other Florida cases involving armed robberies at pizza shops, including a Jacksonville man indicted for similar crimes reported in Hoodline's earlier coverage.
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