Montez Moore, a 32-year-old Philadelphia resident, has been sentenced to 32 years in federal prison following a series of armed robberies and related crimes that took place between 2021 and 2023. United States District Court Judge Gail A. Weilheimer also ordered Moore to serve five years of supervised release and pay over $200,000 in restitution to his victims.
Moore faced charges in three separate indictments issued in October 2023, December 2023, and March 2025. The first indictment described an incident from March 2022, when Moore robbed a jeweler at gunpoint after arranging a meeting under the pretense of purchasing a high-end watch on Rising Sun Avenue. In the second indictment, Moore and several accomplices were charged with robbing a cellphone store on Castor Avenue at gunpoint in December 2022 and stealing a firearm from the store manager. Moore was later arrested at his Henry Avenue apartment in May 2023 while in possession of the stolen firearm. The same case detailed another robbery conspiracy targeting a check cashing business on Castor Avenue, which led to the kidnapping and carjacking of the business owner.
The third indictment accused Moore and others of robbing two more cellphone stores at gunpoint—one on South Broad Street in December 2021 and another on Castor Avenue in November 2022. Before the South Broad Street robbery, Moore and his codefendants kidnapped and carjacked an employee from that store. Between December 2022 and February 2023, authorities linked Moore to seven additional armed robberies and one burglary across Philadelphia.
In November 2025, Moore pleaded guilty to interference with interstate commerce by robbery, kidnapping, carjacking, and using or brandishing a firearm during violent crimes. At sentencing, all charges were consolidated.
United States Attorney David Metcalf stated: "The facts of Moore’s three cases revealed one constant, overarching theme— Moore was a conman who robbed innocent victims after deploying trickery or ambush. He selected his victims either by using the internet or stalking businesses that he thought would be easy to rob." Metcalf continued: "In some instances, Moore created a phony Facebook Marketplace account and purported to be a man from Delaware who moonlighted as a high-end jewelry salesman and sold goods on the secondary market. Moore then solicited transactions from individuals who offered to sell him watches, jewelry, and handbags, and arranged to meet his victims under the guise of engaging them in legitimate financial transactions. But, when the victims arrived at the agreed upon location to conduct business, Moore stuck a gun in their faces and stole their property."
Metcalf further explained: "On one another occasion, Moore selected a cellphone store on South Broad Street as a business to rob. He recruited two accomplices to follow an employee of the store home on New Year’s Eve in 2021. When the victim arrived at the parking lot of his apartment complex, Moore’s accomplices forced the victim into his own car at gunpoint and drove him back to the store where Moore met them and used the victim’s keys to access the store and steal cellphones, tablets, and videogame consoles worth tens of thousands of dollars."
According to prosecutors, fourteen people were directly affected by these crimes. Metcalf added: "He decided to use a gun to exert power over victims who had what he wanted: cash, cellphones, watches, jewelry, handbags, and electronics. The seriousness of the offenses cannot be overstated, and the severe punishment he received is warranted and necessary to protect the public." He concluded: "The citizens of this district and country expect that violent crimes committed against innocent, hardworking people are treated seriously and carry significant consequences. The lengthy sentence Moore received accounts for the public’s basic expectations and serves to promote respect for the law and how it is enforced."
The investigation was conducted by both FBI Philadelphia Division agents as well as officers from the Philadelphia Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney Justin Ashenfelter prosecuted this case.
