Mobile County Man Sentenced to Nearly 14 Years in Prison for Hobbs Act Robbery and Possession of a Firearm

The United States Attorney, Richard W. Moore, announces that William Coleman, a 31 year old, resident of Mobile, Alabama was sentenced to 164 months of incarceration and ordered to pay $582.00 in restitution followed by five years of supervised release for the armed robbery of a local retail business.

According to the facts Coleman admitted as part of his guilty plea, on August 8, 2017, Coleman entered the Advance America, located at 28841 Hwy 98, Unit-D, Daphne, Alabama 36526, which was a payday loan business engaged in interstate commerce, and was conducting business in an industry that affects interstate commerce.  He was wearing a blue plaid shirt, blue pants and a blue ball cap.  Coleman asked an employee for a title loan for his car.  The employee told him they did not do those kinds of loans.  Next, Coleman pulled out a pistol and demanded the money from the counter drawer.  The employee complied and gave Coleman the approximately $480.00 in the drawer.  Coleman then asked the employee where the safe was located.  The employee took Coleman to the safe that was located in the rear area of the store, opened the safe and gave Coleman the approximately $100.00 from the safe.  Coleman then ordered the employee into the bathroom and told her to close the door, which she did.  Coleman fled the scene.  After approximately five minutes, the employee left the bathroom and called the police.  Coleman pled guilty on February 22, 2018.

Officers of the Daphne, Alabama Police Department along with the Federal Bureau of Investigation investigated the case and presented it to the United States Attorney’s Office for prosecution.  The prosecutors assigned to the case was Assistant United States Attorney, Gina S. Vann.