Delco Man Who Committed Six Armed Robberies of Area Hotels Sentenced to 12 Years in Prison

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney David Metcalf announced that Naim-Shahid Jumah Austin, 28, of Yeadon, Pennsylvania, was sentenced by United States District Court Judge Cynthia M. Rufe on Monday to 144 months in prison and five years of supervised release for a spate of armed robberies targeting local hotels in late 2022.

In January 2023, Austin was charged by indictment with six counts of robbery which interferes with interstate commerce (Hobbs Act robbery), and firearms offenses. In December of last year, the defendant pleaded guilty to all the robberies, and to using, carrying, and brandishing a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence.

As detailed in court filings and admitted to by the defendant, between September 2022 and December 2022, Austin targeted the hotels in the early morning hours, when one employee was usually working alone at the front desk. He terrorized his victims at gunpoint, demanding that they hand over cash from the registers.

Austin was armed with a .45-caliber semiautomatic pistol and drove his mother’s car to all six robberies, which occurred at hotels in Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery counties:

• September 16, 2022, 3:23 a.m. – Courtyard by Marriott, Tredyffrin Township, Pa.
• September 18, 2022, 4:02 a.m. – Holiday Inn & Suites, Drexel Hill, Pa. (also robbed hotel guest)
• October 10, 2022, 2:05 a.m. – Fairfield Inn & Suites, Broomall, Pa. (fled empty-handed)
• November 21, 2022, 3:35 a.m. – Home2 Suites by Hilton, Glen Mills, Pa.
• December 2, 2022, 4:04 a.m. – Marriott Philadelphia West, West Conshohocken, Pa.
• December 12, 2022, 4:41 a.m. – Holiday Inn Express & Suites, West Chester, Pa.

West Goshen Township Police located and arrested Austin minutes after the December 12, 2022, hotel robbery.

“Naim Austin was on a one-man crime spree, committing six armed robberies in less than three months,” said U.S. Attorney Metcalf. “He threatened the hotel employees he victimized at gunpoint, to terrify them into compliance. This sentence keeps him off the street and holds him accountable for what he’s done. My office and our partners are committed to making our communities safer by bringing violent offenders like this to justice.”

“Brazen violent criminals like Austin terrorize our communities,” said Wayne A. Jacobs, FBI Philadelphia's Special Agent in Charge. “This sentencing is a testament to the coordinated efforts between all of law enforcement. The FBI and our partners will never stop working to crush violent crime and ensure our citizens have a safe place to work and live in.”

This case was investigated by FBI Philadelphia’s Newtown Square Resident Agency and the Pennsylvania State Police, with assistance from the Tredyffrin Township Police Department, Upper Darby Township Police Department, Marple Township Police Department, Newtown Township Police Department, West Conshohocken Police Department, Birmingham Township Police Department, West Goshen Township Police Department, and Chester County Detectives. The case is being prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorney Sandra Urban.