Terrance Moore III, a 28-year-old resident of Madison, Wisconsin, has been sentenced to six years in federal prison for illegally possessing a firearm as a convicted felon. The sentence was handed down by U.S. District Judge William M. Conley on November 21, 2025. After completing his prison term, Moore will be subject to three years of supervised release. He pleaded guilty to the charge on September 3, 2025.
The case stems from an incident on July 8, 2024, when Madison police officers were monitoring an impromptu street party near Capitol Square in downtown Madison. Officers observed an AR-style rifle protruding from under the front passenger seat of Moore’s parked vehicle. Following Moore’s arrest and a search of his car, police discovered a Smith & Wesson .40 caliber handgun along with marijuana and oxycodone pills inside a backpack located on the driver’s seat. DNA analysis later linked Moore to the handgun.
At the time of his arrest, Moore was already on state probation for three previous illegal firearms possession cases and had other prior felony convictions that barred him from legally owning firearms.
During sentencing, Judge Conley noted concern about Moore’s repeated offenses: “Judge Conley expressed serious concern that this was Moore’s fourth time in front of a court for possessing a firearm as a felon.” The judge determined that “a significant sentence was necessary given Moore’s prior criminal history.”
The investigation into this case was led by the Madison Police Department with assistance from the ATF Madison Crime Gun Task Force. This task force includes federal agents from ATF as well as officers from various state and local agencies across the Western District of Wisconsin. Assistant U.S. Attorney William M. Levins prosecuted the case.
Federal firearm-related prosecutions such as this one are part of Operation Take Back America—a national initiative designed to address violent crime by coordinating resources among several Department of Justice programs including Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).
