Federal Grand Jury Indicts Dallas Man on Firearm Charge
Defendant Arrested Last Month on Outstanding State Warrant After He Allegedly Posed as a Pest Control Worker and Robbed Women in Oak Lawn
DALLAS — A federal grand jury returned an indictment yesterday charging Moses Coppin, 29, of Dallas with one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm, announced U.S. Attorney James T. Jacks of the Northern District of Texas. Agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) arrested Coppin on November 17, 2010, on a related federal criminal complaint. He has been in federal custody since that time.
The indictment alleges that on November 3, 2010, Coppin, a convicted felon, possessed a firearm.
According to public documents, Coppin was arrested by Dallas Police Department (DPD) officers on November 3, 2010, on an outstanding warrant, but shortly thereafter posted bail and was released from custody.
According to the complaint, on October 29, 2010, a woman in the Oak Lawn area of Dallas reported being robbed at gunpoint at her residence. She advised the DPD that the men claimed to be with a termite business, and that after being told by them that the building owner had ordered the inspection, she let them in. She advised that they looked on all floors and in a closet which contained all of the items they would later steal.
One of the men said that they’d be back in 15 minutes after they retrieved spraying supplies. She told them not to return, but at approximately 3:00 p.m. they returned. Another woman answered the door, and using their termite-control ruse, they convinced her to let them in. The intruders pointed guns at both women and robbed them.
The investigation led officers to Moses Coppin, who had a warrant outstanding against him. Officers arrested Coppin on November 3, 2010, and found a gun, matching the description of the weapon used in the robbery, under the driver’s seat of the vehicle in which he had been seated. A criminal history revealed that Coppin had prior felony convictions.
An indictment is an accusation by a federal grand jury, and a defendant is entitled to the presumption of innocence unless proven guilty. A federal complaint is a written statement of the essential facts of the offenses charged, and must be made under oath before a magistrate judge. A defendant is entitled to the presumption of innocence until proven guilty. If convicted, however, the maximum penalty for being a felon in possession of a firearm is 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
The case is being investigated by the DPD, the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office and ATF.
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