PHILADELPHIA, PA — A Philadelphia man was sentenced to 32 years in federal prison for a series of armed robberies, kidnappings and carjackings targeting cellphone stores and online sellers of high-end merchandise, U.S. Attorney David Metcalf announced.
Montez Moore, 32, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Gail A. Weilheimer to 32 years in prison followed by five years of supervised release.
The court also ordered Moore to pay more than $200,000 in restitution to victims.
Moore pleaded guilty in November 2025 to interference with interstate commerce by robbery, kidnapping, carjacking and using and brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence.
Federal prosecutors said Moore was charged in three separate indictments filed in October 2023, December 2023 and March 2025.
Authorities said Moore carried out multiple robberies between December 2021 and May 2023 targeting cellphone stores, businesses and individuals selling luxury items online.
In March 2022, prosecutors said Moore arranged to meet a jeweler on Rising Sun Avenue after pretending he intended to purchase a high-end watch.
When the jeweler arrived, Moore robbed the victim at gunpoint, according to court records.
Prosecutors said Moore also participated in a December 2022 robbery of a cellphone store on Castor Avenue.
During that robbery, Moore and others stole a firearm from the store’s manager, authorities said.
Moore was later arrested in May 2023 at his apartment on Henry Avenue while in possession of the manager’s firearm, prosecutors said.
In another December 2022 incident, prosecutors said Moore and others conspired to rob a Castor Avenue check-cashing business.
The robbery involved the kidnapping and carjacking of the business owner at gunpoint, according to court filings.
Authorities also said Moore participated in robberies of cellphone stores on South Broad Street in December 2021 and on Castor Avenue in November 2022.
Before the South Broad Street robbery, prosecutors said Moore and accomplices followed a store employee home.
The accomplices forced the employee into his own vehicle at gunpoint and drove him back to the store, where Moore used the employee’s keys to enter the business and steal electronics, including phones, tablets and video game consoles.
Prosecutors said Moore also committed seven additional gunpoint robberies and one burglary in Philadelphia between December 2022 and February 2023.
Investigators said Moore frequently used deception to target victims.
In several cases, prosecutors said he created a fake Facebook Marketplace account posing as a jewelry buyer and arranged meetings with sellers of watches, jewelry and handbags before robbing them at gunpoint.
Authorities said Moore’s crimes affected 14 victims.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Philadelphia Police Department.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Justin Ashenfelter prosecuted the case, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
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