Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Anthony Lamont Hill, 31, of Fletcher, NC, appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Dennis L. Howell on Tuesday, December 16, 2014 and pleaded guilty to armed robbery and gun charges in connection with a 2013 armed robbery of a Dollar General store in Woodfin, N.C., announced Anne M. Tompkins, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina.

U.S. Attorney Tompkins is joined in making today’s announcement by Wayne L. Dixie, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Charlotte Field Division, and Chief Brett Holloman of the Woodfin Police Department. At today’s plea hearing, Hill admitted to committing the armed robbery of the Dollar General Store located at 458 Weaverville Road on August 2, 2013. Court records show that Hill by actual and threatened force took money from the store while it was occupied by only two employees. Hill pleaded guilty to one count of Hobbs Act robbery and one count of possessing and brandishing a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence.

Hill remains in federal custody. He faces a maximum prison sentence of 20 years and a $250,000 fine for the armed robbery charge and a minimum of seven years and a maximum of life imprisonment for the gun charge. A sentencing date for Hill has not been set yet.

The investigation was handled by ATF and the Woodfin Police Department. The prosecution for the government was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney John D. Pritchard of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Asheville.