Career Criminal Sentenced to Life in Prison for Possession of Ammunition

Court Imposes Maximum Sentence for 2006 Crime Based in Part Upon Defendant’s Role in Uncharged 2004 Murder of Dunbar Armored Car Guard Jason Schwindler

April 23, 2010 - GREENBELT, MD—U.S. District Judge Roger W. Titus sentenced Opio Diarra Moore, age 38, of Fort Washington, Maryland, late yesterday to life in prison, after Moore was convicted by a federal jury on December 5, 2008, of conspiracy to possess and possession of ammunition by a convicted felon. Judge Titus enhanced Moore’s sentence upon finding that he was an armed career criminal, based on three previous felony drug convictions and on evidence presented at the sentencing hearing that Moore participated in other crimes of violence, including the murder of Jason Schwindler, a Dunbar armored car employee, during a robbery. Earl Davis was convicted last year in connection with the robbery and murder of Jason Schwindler.

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Theresa R. Stoop of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives - Baltimore Field Division; Special Agent in Charge Richard A. McFeely of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; and Chief Roberto L. Hylton of the Prince George’s County Police Department.

“Opio Moore faced a maximum sentence of life in federal prison for purchasing ammunition in 2006, and the judge imposed the maximum sentence based in part upon preponderant evidence that Moore participated in the murder of Dunbar armored car driver Jason Schwindler in 2004.” said U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein. “In exercising their sentencing discretion, judges consider not just the conduct for which the defendant was found guilty, but also the defendant’s criminal record and other evidence of his character. Opio Moore was sentenced to life in prison because he led a life of crime.”

According to evidence presented at his three day trial, on August 30, 2006, Moore met with a woman in the parking lot adjacent to the Realco gun store located in Forestville, Maryland. After a brief conversation, the woman entered the Realco gun store and a short time later, came out of the store carrying a bag which agents identified as containing a box of ammunition. Moore and the woman drove separately to a nearby shopping center. Moore got out of his vehicle and gave the woman cash in exchange for the bag containing the ammunition. Moore placed the box of ammunition in the right rear passenger area of the vehicle. Moore’s vehicle was subsequently stopped in the District of Columbia. The vehicle was searched and a box containing federal .40 caliber ammunition was recovered. Moore was placed under arrest. Moore has multiple prior convictions, including three felony drug convictions, and is prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition. At the time of this arrest, Moore was on supervised release for a prior federal conviction.

In imposing yesterday’s life sentence, in addition to considering the evidence presented at Moore’s trial proving the conspiracy to possess and possession of ammunition by a convicted felon, Judge Titus heard evidence about other relevant conduct, including a recorded jail visit between Earl Davis and Moore, information about Moore’s prior conduct inside and outside of prison, and evidence about several crimes of violence, including the Schwindler homicide.

Davis, age 39, of Washington D.C., was sentenced last year to life plus 35 years in prison, for robbery and using a gun in the murder of a Dunbar armored car employee, carjacking, using a gun in furtherance of the carjacking, and being a felon in possession of a gun and ammunition.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended Assistant United States Attorneys Deborah A. Johnston and Emily N. Glatfelter, who prosecuted the case.