CHARLOTTE — A man who drove a stolen car into a Charlotte gun shop before stealing 20 guns is heading to federal prison -- but he won’t be there for long, and employees at the store aren’t happy about the sentence.
We’ve spoken with the owners of Carolina Sporting Arms several times since the brazen crime. Now, a year and a half later, he says no one’s being held accountable.
Mike Simpson says he’s installed new security measures at the store, including bollard poles, a heavy-duty gate, and cameras. The changes are new, but his message is the same.
“It’s disappointing ... it doesn’t make sense, they’re a menace to society,” Simpson said. “I’m getting tired of it. I don’t know why people aren’t held accountable for their actions. Why are we letting criminals back out on the street?”
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Last week, the Department of Justice announced that Reginald Moses has been sentenced to just over two years in federal prison after pleading guilty to theft of a firearm from a licensed dealer and aiding and abetting.
“Only got 27 months, federal time for stealing 20 guns, stole a car, broke in -- that doesn’t seem like a big repercussion,” Simpson said.
Eighteen handguns, a shotgun and a rifle were stolen, all worth about $14,000. Half of them were later recovered, but the others are on the streets.
“Criminals have them. Disappointing, again,” Simpson said.
Another woman involved was federally charged and sentenced to the time she’s already served. She’s now on probation.
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