Mekhi Moss, 20, of Madison, Wisconsin, is headed to federal prison for seven years after robbing a Sun Prairie convenience store at gunpoint and brandishing a firearm stolen just days before the heist. The sentence, handed down by Chief U.S. District Judge James Peterson, marks the end of a violent crime spree that terrorized local businesses and exposed Moss’s pattern of escalating criminal behavior.
On January 21, 2020, Moss and an accomplice stormed into a Stop-N-Go in Sun Prairie, both waving loaded handguns. Surveillance footage captured the chaos as employees were forced to hand over cash under threat of violence. Moss’s weapon had been taken in a theft only days earlier, adding another felony to his growing rap sheet. At the time, he was already wanted on eleven active state warrants.
Moss pleaded guilty on July 7, 2021, to charges of armed robbery and brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence. The plea came after a joint investigation by the Sun Prairie Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which quickly pieced together evidence linking Moss to the robbery and prior gun theft. Federal prosecutors moved swiftly to take him off the streets.
At sentencing, Judge Peterson didn’t mince words. He called Moss a “destructive force” and stressed that public safety was the driving factor in imposing the seven-year prison term. “This was not a petty crime,” Peterson said. “It was a deliberate, armed assault on a business and the community’s sense of security.”
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Corey Stephan as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), the Department of Justice’s nationwide initiative targeting violent offenders, especially felons caught with firearms. PSN prioritizes federal prosecution for gun crimes that spill over from state-level offenses, using enhanced penalties to deter repeat violence.
Moss will serve seven years in federal prison followed by four years of supervised release. Authorities say his case exemplifies the dangers of untreated criminal escalation—and the federal system’s willingness to step in when local offenders cross the line into armed violence. The Sun Prairie robbery may be behind him, but the consequences are just beginning.
Related Federal Cases
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- Trevor Christian Pleads Guilty to Madison Spree of Armed Bank Robberies · Wisconsin
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Key Facts
- State: Wisconsin
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Violent Crime
- Source: Official Source ↗
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