NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – A federal jury has convicted a Kelseyville man of charges including murder and robbery for the fatal January 2013 shooting of a store clerk.
On Tuesday, following three days of deliberation, a federal jury found Jonathan Antonio Mota, 34, guilty of the murder of Forrest Seagrave, 33, of Kelseyville.
The jury handed down guilty verdicts on charges of use/possession of a firearm in furtherance of the Hobbs Act robbery, use of the firearm resulting in murder, Hobbs Act robbery and felon in possession of a firearm, according to Abraham Simmons, spokesman for the US Attorney's Office Northern District of California.
United States statute explains that the Hobbs Act “prohibits actual or attempted robbery or extortion affecting interstate or foreign commerce.”
When he's sentenced, Mota could face a maximum of life imprisonment on the first two charges – use/possession of a firearm and and use of a firearm resulting in murder – as well as fines of up to $250,000, according to Simmons.
Simmons said that the use of a firearm resulting in murder charge has a maximum penalty of life imprisonment and a $250,000 fine, unless the attorney general directs the U.S. Attorney's Office to seek the death penalty.
He said the attorney general has not directed the U.S. Attorney's Office to seek the death penalty in the Mota case.
Simmons said more details on the verdict and sentencing are expected to be released later on Tuesday.
Seagrave, a well-known and well-liked young man who had worked for several years at the Mt. Konocti Gas and Mart on Main Street in Kelseyville, was at work on the night of Jan. 18, 2013, when a masked, hooded and armed Mota entered the store to rob it.
During the robbery Mota shot Seagrave and then fled the scene. Seagrave was transported to Sutter Lakeside Hospital where he died later that night.
Mota originally was arrested eight days after the shooting on unrelated charges, and the following month was arrested and then indicted by the federal government while in the Lake County Jail on federal weapons charges.
He was transferred to federal custody in April 2013, where he has remained ever since.
Federal prosecutors indicted Mota in June 2013 for Seagrave's murder as well as weapons charges.
Mot has represented himself in the case with standby counsel. There were lengthy delays in the proceedings, with the trial finally beginning at the start of June.
Opening arguments took place on June 7, with closing arguments and the beginning of jury deliberations taking place on June 28, according to court records.
Mota's criminal history prior to the Seagrave shooting included the December 2006 robbery of the Bank of the West in Clearlake. He later was involved in a standoff with a SWAT team attempting to arrest him in the case.
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Federal jury hands down conviction in Forrest Seagrave murder case
- Elizabeth Larson
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