Serial Robber Sentenced to over 32 Years for Terrorizing More Than a Dozen Victims in Philadelphia Between 2022 and 2023

PHILADELPHIA - United States Attorney David Metcalf announced that Montez Moore, 32, of Philadelphia, was sentenced to 32 years in prison, 5 years of supervised release, and ordered to pay over $200,000 in restitution to victims by United States District Court Judge Gail A. Weilheimer for robbing several cellphone stores and individuals who sold high-end merchandise on Facebook Marketplace, and, in one instance, kidnapping and carjacking an employee of a business.

Moore was charged in three separate indictments filed in October 2023, December 2023, and March 2025. As charged in the first indictment, in March 2022, Moore robbed a jeweler at gunpoint after Moore tricked the jeweler into believing that Moore intended to purchase a high-end watch from him on Rising Sun Avenue. As charged in the second indictment, in December 2022, Moore and several other defendants robbed a Castor Avenue cellphone store at gunpoint and stole a firearm from the manager of the store. In May 2023, Moore was arrested at his Henry Avenue apartment in possession of the manager's firearm. In that same case, also in December 2022, Moore also conspired with others to rob a Castor Avenue check cashing business that resulted in the owner of that business being kidnapped and carjacked at gunpoint. As charged in the third indictment, Moore and several other defendants robbed two cellphone stores at gunpoint, one on South Broad Street in December 2021, and one on Castor Avenue in November 2022. Prior to the robbery on South Broad Street, Moore and his codefendants kidnapped and carjacked an employee of the store. Additionally, Moore committed seven additional gunpoint robberies and one burglary in Philadelphia between December 2022 and February 2023.

In November 2025, Moore pled guilty to interference with interstate commerce by robbery, kidnapping, carjacking, and using and brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence. At the time of his guilty plea, all of Moore's charges in indictments were consolidated for sentencing. 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. 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. 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.

In all, Moore harmed fourteen people in the wake of his crimes. 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. 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 case was investigated by the FBI Philadelphia Division and the Philadelphia Police Department and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Justin Ashenfelter.