A robbery charge is a felony accusation that you took property from another person by force or by threatening them, and it carries years in prison in every state and under federal law. The force-or-fear element is what separates robbery from theft, and it is also what makes the crime a violent felony with sentences, enhancements, and lifelong collateral consequences that ordinary property crimes do not produce. If you are facing this charge, the specifics of what the prosecutor can prove, whether a weapon was involved, and whether the case stays in state court will drive almost everything that happens next.
What the Prosecution Has to Prove
To convict you of robbery, the state must prove each of these elements beyond a reasonable doubt. The statutory wording varies by jurisdiction, but the structure is consistent:
- You took personal property belonging to someone else. The item does not have to be valuable; courts have sustained robbery convictions over items worth almost nothing, because the crime is defined by the method of taking.
- You took it from the victim’s person or their immediate presence. A purse on a restaurant table two feet away qualifies.
- You took it against the victim’s will. Consent extracted by intimidation is not consent.
- You used force or fear. Force can be as minor as snatching a phone hard enough to break someone’s grip. Fear can be verbal: telling a clerk “give me the money or I’ll hurt you” satisfies the element even if you have no weapon and no actual ability to carry out the threat. The test is whether a reasonable person in the victim’s position would have felt coerced.
- You intended to permanently deprive the owner of the property. Robbery is a specific-intent crime, which matters for several defenses.
Most robbery cases turn on the force-or-fear element. If the prosecution cannot establish it, the charge should drop to theft.
Robbery vs. Theft vs. Burglary
People use these three terms interchangeably, and the law does not. Theft is taking someone’s property with intent to keep it, with no confrontation required. A pickpocket lifting a wallet from an unaware commuter commits theft. Burglary is unlawfully entering a building intending to commit a crime inside; you can be convicted even if you take nothing and no one is home. Robbery is the one that requires a victim who is present and coerced. Which charge you face shapes the penalties and the available defenses, so read the charging document carefully.
Simple vs. Aggravated Robbery
Most states split robbery into degrees, usually simple (or second-degree) and aggravated (or first-degree). The dividing line is how dangerous the encounter was for the victim.
Simple robbery is the baseline: taking property by force or fear without the aggravators listed below. A street mugging where the robber uses physical intimidation but carries no weapon and causes no serious injury typically fits here. Sentences generally range from two to ten years for a first offense, with fines that can reach $10,000 or more depending on the state.
Aggravated robbery is triggered by factors that vary by state but commonly include:
- Use or display of a deadly weapon, which is by far the most common escalator
- Serious physical injury to the victim beyond minor bruises
- A vulnerable victim: elderly, a child, or a person with disabilities
- Location, where some states treat robberies in occupied homes, near ATMs, or on public transit more severely
- Multiple participants acting together
Aggravated robbery sentences commonly run from five to twenty years, and more where multiple aggravators stack. The jump from simple to aggravated is one of the biggest sentencing cliffs in criminal law, which is why a defense attorney will fight hard over whether the aggravating factor was actually proven, not just alleged.
Weapon and Injury Enhancements
Using a gun during a robbery is where the real sentencing weight lands. Under federal law, carrying or possessing a firearm during a crime of violence adds a mandatory minimum of five years on top of the robbery sentence. Brandishing raises the minimum to seven years. Discharging the firearm raises it to ten. These terms run consecutively, meaning they stack on top of the underlying sentence rather than overlapping with it.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 924 – Penalties
State enhancements follow similar logic. Many impose mandatory additional prison time when a gun is involved, and the firearm does not have to be loaded or functional. Judges typically have no discretion to shave these terms, which is why armed robbery cases are notoriously hard to plead down.
A separate enhancement applies in most jurisdictions when the victim suffers serious physical injury, often adding several years. The injury has to be proven as a separate allegation, with its own finding by the jury or judge.
When Robbery Becomes a Federal Case
Most robberies are prosecuted by the state. Certain circumstances pull the case into federal court, where sentences are generally harsher and inmates serve at least 85 percent of their time because federal parole has been abolished.
Robbing a federally insured bank, credit union, or savings institution carries up to 20 years. Using a dangerous weapon or putting a life at risk pushes the maximum to 25. If someone dies, the range is 10 years to life or the death penalty.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 2113 – Bank Robbery and Incidental Crimes
The Hobbs Act makes it a federal crime to commit a robbery that affects interstate commerce. Prosecutors read this broadly: robbing a convenience store that sells goods shipped from other states can satisfy the interstate hook. Maximum sentence is 20 years.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 1951 – Interference With Commerce by Threats or Violence
Carjacking is its own federal offense when the vehicle has traveled in interstate commerce, which covers nearly every car on the road. Baseline maximum is 15 years. Serious bodily injury raises it to 25. A death allows a life sentence.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 2119 – Motor Vehicles
Defenses That Can Work
Because robbery is a specific-intent crime involving fast-moving facts and often-traumatized witnesses, several defenses have real traction depending on the case.
Mistaken Identity
This is the defense that succeeds most often. Robberies happen quickly, often in poor lighting, and victims under extreme stress are unreliable witnesses. Eyewitness misidentification has been a leading cause of wrongful convictions for decades. When the state’s case rests on a single witness ID without corroborating DNA, prints, or surveillance footage, the defense has serious ground to work.
Claim of Right
Some jurisdictions recognize a defense where you honestly believed the property was yours. Robbery requires intent to steal, and you cannot intend to steal what you believe is already yours. The belief does not have to be reasonable in most states, but it must be in good faith. The defense has limits: it fails if you concealed the taking, and it generally fails when the dispute is over money owed rather than a specific item.
Lack of Force or Fear
If you took property without any physical contact and without a threat, the state may not be able to prove robbery. Winning this challenge usually does not mean walking free; it means the charge drops to theft, with substantially lighter penalties.
Duress
If someone threatened to kill or seriously injure you unless you participated, duress may apply. The requirements are strict: the threat has to be immediate and unavoidable, you must have had no reasonable chance to escape, and the harm threatened has to be worse than the crime committed. Courts scrutinize this defense heavily. It rarely wins outright, but in cases involving younger defendants pressured by older accomplices, it can affect sentencing even without producing an acquittal.
Voluntary Intoxication
Because robbery requires specific intent, extreme intoxication can in theory negate it. In practice the success rate is very low. States that allow the defense treat it as a partial defense at best, potentially reducing the conviction to a lesser offense. Several states have abolished it entirely.
After the Arrest
You will be brought before a judge for arraignment, typically within 24 to 72 hours of arrest. The judge will state the charges, advise you of your rights, address bail, and take your initial plea. The plea is almost always “not guilty” at this stage, regardless of long-term strategy. Ask for a public defender at this hearing if you do not already have an attorney.
Because robbery is a violent felony, prosecutors routinely argue for high bail or no bail. Judges weigh the severity of the offense, your criminal history, flight risk, and danger to the community. Armed robbery charges and cases involving serious injury make pretrial release materially harder to get.
Most robbery cases end in a plea rather than a trial. The prosecution may offer to reduce the charge to theft or larceny, or to recommend a sentence on the lower end of the statutory range. Whether to accept is one of the most consequential decisions in the case, and it should not be made without a candid conversation with your attorney about the evidence, the likely trial outcome, and every consequence listed in the next section.
Consequences That Outlast the Sentence
The prison term is only the first layer. A felony robbery conviction reshapes a long list of other things.
Firearm prohibition. Federal law bars anyone convicted of a crime punishable by more than one year in prison from possessing firearms or ammunition. Every robbery conviction triggers this, regardless of whether you served time, and relief from the disability is extremely rare.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts
Habitual offender exposure. Robbery counts as a violent felony and qualifies as a “strike” under habitual-offender laws in roughly half the states and under federal law. A second qualifying conviction can double the normal sentence; a third can trigger 25 years to life in some states. One robbery conviction changes the calculus of every future charge.
Employment and housing. A violent felony surfaces on background checks and disqualifies applicants from many jobs, professional licenses, and rental housing. Healthcare, education, finance, and government positions commonly reject applicants with robbery convictions outright.
Immigration. For non-citizens, robbery is particularly destructive. Federal immigration law treats a crime of violence carrying a sentence of at least one year as an aggravated felony, and robbery fits.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1101 – Definitions An aggravated felony makes you deportable, bars nearly all discretionary relief from removal, and permanently blocks naturalization. If you are not a citizen, immigration consequences have to be central to defense strategy from day one.
Voting rights. Most states restrict felony voting rights, with rules that vary widely. Some restore rights automatically on release, some after parole or probation, and a few require a governor’s pardon. Check your state’s rule; restoration is rarely automatic.
Restitution. Courts typically order robbery defendants to repay victims for stolen property, medical expenses, and lost wages. Restitution survives your sentence. Unpaid balances can convert into a civil judgment, with wage garnishment and other collection tools available to the state indefinitely.