Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime Alerts (b)
ST. LOUIS – A convicted felon from St. Louis County, Missouri on Tuesday admitted possessing a machine gun and committing a drug robbery and a carjacking.
Walter C. Moore, 19, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis Tuesday to charges of being a felon in possession of a firearm, possession of a machine gun, robbery, carjacking and brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence.
Moore admitted using Facebook to arrange for the purchase of $900 worth of the painkiller Oxycodone on April 25, 2024. The seller drove to Moore’s house and invited him to sit in her 2014 Mazda6 to complete the sale. Moore pulled out a handgun, grabbed the Oxycodone pills and ordered the seller out, threatening to shoot her. Moore then sped off in her car.
St. Louis County police located the car near the 1800 block of Chambers Road. Moore ran as police approached, but he was quickly located and arrested. He had discarded a Glock handgun equipped with a “switch,” or machinegun conversion device, rendering it a fully automatic weapon. It also had an extended magazine and a laser sight. Moore’s phone contained pictures of him with that gun and others. As a convicted felon, he is barred from possessing firearms.
Moore is scheduled to be sentenced May 6. Both the U.S. Attorney’s Office and Moore’s lawyer have agreed to recommend a sentence of 15 years in prison.
The St. Louis County Police Department and the FBI investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Zachary Bluestone is prosecuting the case.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.