Moore gets one year for armed robbery

A Red Wing man was sentenced to one year in jail and 10 years’ probation Friday for robbing a convenience store with a BB gun last August.

Christopher Marice Moore, 33, pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree aggravated robbery Feb. 6. In court Friday, Moore said he robbed One Stop Food and Fuel, 115 Pioneer Road, to support his meth habit.

“I made a bad mistake,” Moore said while under oath. “I did not intend to hurt nobody. … I never see myself stooping to that level. I am disgusted with myself at the given time.”

According to a court complaint filed Aug. 29, 2001, a man, later identified as Moore, came into the store wearing all black and with a piece of clothing covering his face and carrying “an all black colored gun.” The man then demanded the store’s owner Sumeet Kumar to “Give me the money, give me the money.”

Moore was found a couple blocks from the convenience store riding a bike. A backpack was also found in the vicinity containing black clothing, including a sweatshirt with eyeholes cut into the hood, sunglasses and a pellet pistol.

Just before Moore was apprehended, police spotted him wearing a backpack. When he was arrested, he no longer had a backpack, but had a large sweat stain on his shirt that wearing a backpack would cause, the complaint says.

Assistant Goodhue County Attorney Chris Schrader asked First District Judge Thomas Bibus to sentence Moore to 57 months in prison, adding that that is the mandatory minimum sentence for a use of a firearm “in a case like this.”

“I think the sentence is justified,” Schrader said. He argued that Moore’s actions stole more than money from Kumar, the convenience store and the community.

“It’s not just nickels and dimes. It’s a real sense of security,” Schrader said.

Kumar also gave a victim impact statement Friday, saying that he’s lost business because his customers no longer feel safe in his store.

“Any youngsters, they’re not coming in; we don’t see them. Customers ask if the store is OK,” Kumar told the court. “It has affected us very badly. We have to be very watchful all the time now.”

Defense attorney John Gavin argued that even though Moore committed the crime, he should not get prison time because he is sorry for his actions. Instead, Gavin said Moore should be allowed to rebuild his life.

“In this situation, you have a defendant who is clearly remorseful… and he has taken full responsibility for his actions,” Gavin argued.

It’s a statement Bibus agreed with.

“You do show ample … remorse for your responsibility in this matter,” he told Moore, adding that those are “compelling reasons” not to give him prison time.

Moore will serve one year in Goodhue County Jail, beginning Friday, and receive credit for 41 days already served. He will serve 10 years’ probation and pay restitution for the convenience store’s losses.

“You cannot go back to that style of life ever again or you will go to prison,” Bibus told Moore.

Under a stay of imposition, if Moore successfully completes his jail time and probation, the felony aggravated robbery charge will be reduced to a misdemeanor.

Moore was also originally charged with two counts of fifth-degree assault, which were dismissed in a plea agreement.

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