Charlotte man sentenced in 20-gun heist says he’s found a path forward: zoology
After stealing 20 guns from a Charlotte store, Reginald Moses says a close call in jail pushed him toward a new calling: zoology.
The 21-year-old was sentenced Tuesday for stealing 18 handguns, one 12-gauge shotgun and one rifle as a part of a seven-person, three-car heist.
Moses and a group of teens stole the guns from Carolina Sporting Arms Company Inc., near the intersection of South Boulevard and Sharon Road West, in February 2024, according to police reports. They used a stolen Hyundai Sonata to “ram through” the business, according to court documents filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina. The teens used a Chevy Cruze and Kia Optima — both of which were stolen — as getaway cars.
Moses’ lawyer, Richard E. Beam Jr., said Moses “learned some important lessons concerning his future” while in jail. A grim encounter in jail sparked that.
Moses was the first person to spot an inmate who was in the middle of a suicide attempt. He was also the first person to help, according to court documents.
That close encounter “left a lasting impression” on Moses, who now wants to “prove that he is better than this,” his lawyer wrote. He wants to get a zoology degree “to work with animals either at a zoo or as a veterinarian technician,” Beam wrote in a motion.
Moses “did not fully did appreciate… the legal consequences for himself or the possible negative impact on society itself” at the time of the theft, Beam wrote. And he’s “used this time to reflect on his future and plan for a better life that does not include continued criminal activity.”
District Judge Kenneth Bell Wednesday sentenced Moses to two years and three months in prison with two years on supervised release.
Alaja McKinney, who was 18 at the time of the crime, was also sentenced for knowingly taking two of the firearms. McKinney will be released, having already served more than a year, and will be on supervised release for two years, according to court documents. Most of the other involved teens were released back to their parents, according to court documents.
In the days following the theft, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department officers found eight of the stolen guns, according to a 2024 post on X. CMPD did not respond with an updated number of recovered guns before publication of this article.
