Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - A 37-year-old Corpus Christi man has been ordered to federal prison for robbing a local convenience store at gunpoint and other various firearms offenses, announced U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Patrick. Steven Moore pleaded guilty March 1, 2018, admitting to multiple firearms charges committed over a six-month period between summer 2016 and January 2017.   

Today, visiting U.S. Circuit Judge Gregg Costa sentenced Moore to 144 months in federal prison.

Local police encountered Moore in August 2016 after he had picked up a friend who was caught stealing ammunition from a local sporting goods store. When police searched Moore’s vehicle, they found a .22 caliber rifle outfitted with an homemade silencer and a 9 mm semi-automatic pistol he had stolen from a licensed dealer two weeks prior. 

 Moore was arrested and charged by state authorities, but released on bond.

Several months later, while still on bond for the previous incident, Moore was identified as a suspect in a robbery. On Jan. 2, 2017, local police responded to a robbery at a local convenience store. The clerk indicated the robber had pointed a gun at him and took money from the register and several packs of cigarettes. Footage from the store surveillance cameras appeared to show the weapon as a possible 9mm semi-automatic pistol.

On Jan. 17, 2017, 15 days after the robbery, local police arrested Moore in a drug store parking lot where he was found sleeping in a car with the gun used during the robbery in the front pocket of his sweatshirt.

In all, Moore pleaded guilty to possessing three firearms, a silencer and more than 130 rounds of ammunition.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives conducted the investigation with the assistance of the Corpus Christi Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Brittany Jensen prosecuted the case.

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