DOJ Seal

Department of Justice

U.S. Attorney's Office
Middle District of Florida

For Immediate Release

Wednesday, May 11, 2016
A. Lee Bentley, III
, United States Attorney
Contact: William Daniels

Final Two Individuals Sentenced in String of Armed Robberies

Tampa, Florida – U.S. District Judge Susan C. Bucklew today sentenced Samuel Lee Lynch (29, Temple Terrace) to life imprisonment and Reo Thomas Nance (31, Temple Terrace) to 52 years imprisonment for conspiracy, armed robbery, and firearms offenses in connection with five Tampa Bay area armed robberies occurring in March and April of 2015. As part of their sentences, the Court also entered money judgments in the amount of $93,519, the proceeds of the armed robberies. Lynch and Nance were found guilty on January 29, 2016.

According to evidence presented at trial, Lynch, Nance, and co-defendants Christopher Marquis Fruster (21, Tampa) and Brittany Jenae Hall (27, Tampa) targeted check cashing businesses that kept large amounts of cash on hand, ultimately stealing more than $93,000. During each robbery, Lynch and Nance brandished firearms. During the March 26, 2015 robbery of the Nebraska Food Market, Lynch shot an accomplice and bystander.

Both Fruster and Hall previously pleaded guilty in relation to this case. On March 22, 2016, Fruster was sentenced to 13 years in federal prison, and on April 12, 2016, Hall was sentenced to three years in federal prison.

This case was investigated by Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the Tampa Police Department, and the Temple Terrace Police Department. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Carlton C. Gammons.

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Tampa Field Division