JACKSONVILLE, Fla — Former Florida Highway Patrol Trooper, 46-year old Jesse Rance Moore, has been sentenced to 21 years in federal prison for four counts pertaining to Hobbs Act robberies and three counts for brandishing a firearm during the robberies.
The court also ordered Moore to forfeit his firearm, which was used to commit the offenses.
A jury had found Moore guilty on November 2, 2023.
According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, the FBI first learned of a masked man robbing a string of pharmacies in the Columbia County area after the North Florida Pharmacy of Fort White was robbed at gunpoint on January 13, 2022.
Reports from the department of Justice provided photo evidence showing the masked individual, later identified as Moore, captured on surveillance cameras walking into the pharmacy with a black handgun.
Surverlince video also shows him demanding controlled substances, specifically, oxycodone, OxyContin, and Percocet.
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After holding up multiple store employees and taking the controlled substances, the masked man exited the pharmacy and drove southbound on US Highway 27.
What Moore did not realize was that a good Samaritan in the pharmacy’s drive-thru followed the getaway vehicle and captured the license plate number, which led back to Moore.
The FBI also later discovered that the vehicles used in previous three robberies (North Florida Pharmacy of Fort White on August 2, 2021; North Florida Pharmacy of Chiefland on November 20, 2021; and the Baya West Pharmacy in Lake City on December 29, 2021) either matched the description of a white Ford F-350 registered to Moore or matched the vehicles Moore’s wife rented just days prior to the robberies.
According to trial testimony and evidence, law enforcement seized articles of clothing, multiple masks, the firearm, handwritten notes, and brown boots associated with the robberies.
In addition, and despite Moore’s many disguises, witnesses testified to the robber’s physical appearance, clothing, interactions, and demeanor during the robberies.
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Evidence was also discovered on Moore’s cellphone, proving that he had Googled medications stolen from the pharmacies, store hours of pharmacies, and a variety of keyword searches, including the question “do drug stores get robbed in florida,” which he Googled just weeks prior to the first robbery.
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According to court documents, Moore was employed as a Florida Highway Patrol Trooper from January 13, 2003, to February 27, 2017.
Moore had several disciplinary issues during his term of employment, where he was twice terminated, but later reached settlement agreements to convert his dismissals to suspensions.
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