Alamdar Hamdani U.S. Attorney | U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas
Two residents of Donna, Texas, have been sentenced to federal prison following their convictions for armed robbery. U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei announced that Robert Jae Franco, 23, and Alejandro Isaiah Gonzalez, 22, pleaded guilty to Hobbs Act robbery on October 18 and November 8, 2024, respectively.
U.S. District Judge Drew B. Tipton has sentenced both men to serve 48 months in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release. During the sentencing hearing, evidence was presented showing Franco's prior convictions for aggravated assault and alien smuggling, while Gonzalez had previous convictions for three separate burglary incidents.
"The Southern District of Texas is working around-the-clock to take repeat violent offenders off the streets," stated Ganjei. "Thanks to the efforts of our law enforcement partners, we now have two less criminals out there terrorizing innocent citizens."
The charges stem from an incident on January 27, 2024, when Franco and Gonzalez robbed two Smoke Shops in Pharr and Donna at gunpoint. Surveillance footage captured the masked and armed individuals entering the stores and demanding money from employees.
The investigation was conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) alongside police departments in Pharr, Donna, and McAllen as part of Operation: Knock Down. This initiative began in 2020 as a joint effort between ATF and the U.S. Attorney’s Office to utilize federal resources in local prosecutions of armed felons.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert L. Guerra Jr. handled the prosecution of this case.
