Terrance Moore III, a 28-year-old resident of Madison, Wisconsin, was sentenced to six years in federal prison for illegally possessing a firearm as a convicted felon. The sentence was delivered by U.S. District Judge William M. Conley on November 21, 2025. After completing his prison term, Moore will serve three years of supervised release. He pleaded guilty to the charge on September 3, 2025.
The case stems from an incident on July 8, 2024, when Madison police officers were monitoring an impromptu street party near Capitol Square in downtown Madison. Officers observed an AR-style rifle protruding from under the front passenger seat of Moore’s parked vehicle. Following his arrest and a search of the car, police discovered a Smith & Wesson .40 caliber handgun along with marijuana and oxycodone pills in a backpack located on the driver’s seat. DNA testing later confirmed Moore’s DNA on the handgun.
At the time of this incident, Moore was already on state probation due to three previous cases involving illegal firearms possession. Because of these and other felony convictions, he is legally barred from owning or possessing firearms.
During sentencing, Judge Conley noted that this marked Moore’s fourth appearance before a court for possessing a firearm as a felon and stated that "a significant sentence was necessary given Moore’s prior criminal history."
The investigation was conducted by the Madison Police Department with assistance from the ATF Madison Crime Gun Task Force—a group comprising federal agents from ATF and task force officers from state and local agencies across the Western District of Wisconsin. Assistant U.S. Attorney William M. Levins prosecuted the case.
Federal criminal cases related to firearms are part of Operation Take Back America, an initiative designed to use resources from several Department of Justice programs—including Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN)—to combat violent crime nationwide.
