Charlotte Man Sentenced for the Armed Robbery of the Thomasboro Grocery Store and Related Charges
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Michael Lamont Moore, 35, of Charlotte, was sentenced on Thursday, September 27, 2012 to serve 204 months in prison, to be followed by five years of supervised release in connection with the armed robbery of the Thomasboro Grocery Store, announced Anne M. Tompkins, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. Chief U.S. District Judge Robert J. Conrad, Jr. also ordered Moore to pay restitution in the amount of $11,000.
Wayne L. Dixie, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. ATF, Charlotte Field Division, and Chief Rodney D. Monroe of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD) are joining U.S. Attorney Tompkins in making today's announcement.
Following a three-day trial in August 2011, a federal jury in Charlotte found Moore guilty of armed robbery, conspiracy to commit armed robbery and using a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence. According to evidence presented at trial, on April 30, 2010, Moore, along with three co-conspirators, Timothy Herron, 38, and Joseph Alexander Clinton, 37, both of Charlotte, along with Davenon Farmer, 34, conspired to and robbed at gunpoint the Thomasboro Grocery Store in Charlotte, N.C.
According to trial evidence and filed documents, on the date of the armed robbery Moore and Farmer entered the store wearing masks and gloves while Clinton held the door for Moore and Farmer to enter. Court records indicate that Herron acted as the get-away driver and waited outside in Farmer's van. Farmer was armed with a handgun. During the course of the robbery, Moore was the "grab-man" and stole $11,000 in cash money from the cash register as well as cigar boxes from behind the counter. During the robbery, records show that Farmer restrained a 16-year old girl who was working behind the counter by pulling her across the counter and holding the loaded gun to her head. Moore, Farmer, Clinton and Herron made their escape in the get-away van.
Shortly after the co-defendants fled the scene, the owner of the grocery store called 9-1-1 and gave a description of the van and its direction of travel. CMPD officers spotted the van and began to follow it. Herron drove the van to Allenbrook Elementary School where the four men abandoned the van and began to flee on foot. While fleeing on foot, Moore fired two shots using Farmer's gun toward CMPD officers. Evidence produced at trial showed that there were children riding bikes in the parking lot of the elementary school at the time of the shooting.
Judge Conrad also sentenced yesterday Herron to serve 75 months in prison and three years of supervised release for his role in the armed robbery. Herron was also ordered to pay $11,000 in restitution. He pled guilty to one count of Hobbs Act Robbery in February 2011.
Farmer pleaded guilty in June 2011 to one count of Hobbs Act Robbery and one count of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence. He is awaiting sentencing. The forth co-conspirator, Clinton, was found guilty at trial in June 2011 of armed robbery, armed robbery conspiracy and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence. A sentencing date for Clinton has not been set yet.
All defendants are in local federal custody in the Western District of North Carolina. Upon designation of a federal facility, Moore and Herron will be transferred into custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Farmer and Clinton will remain in local federal custody until their sentencing hearings.
Federal sentences are served without the possibility of parole.
The investigation was handled by ATF and CMPD's Violent Crimes Task Force. The prosecution for the government was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Gleason and Assistant U.S. Attorney J. George Guise of the U.S. Attorney's Office in Charlotte.
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