Tampa, Florida – In a significant crackdown on violent crime, U.S. District Judge Virginia M. Hernandez Covington has handed down a 28-year federal prison sentence to 46-year-old Scott Carpenter, Jr., of Lakeland, for his involvement in a series of armed robberies. The sentence comes after Carpenter pled guilty to charges of interference with commerce by robbery and brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence on November 14, 2023.
Over a three-year period from August 2018 to August 2021, Carpenter executed at least 13 armed robberies targeting commercial businesses in various locations, including Lakeland, Auburndale, St. Petersburg, Tampa, Brandon, Zephyrhills, Gibsonton, and Temple Terrace. His primary targets were Dollar Tree stores, where he employed a consistent modus operandi. Dressed entirely in black, Carpenter would lie in wait for employees to close up for the night, confronting them as they either walked to their cars with the day’s takings or as they attempted to deposit the proceeds at a bank’s night deposit box. Brandishing a firearm, he threatened the employees and demanded the money.