Halfway House Escapee-Armed Bank Robber Sentenced to Double Life Prison Terms

CHARLOTTE, NC—Two defendants, Kelvin Gerard Moss and Shonn Raphelle McCain, both 36, and both from Charlotte, who escaped from a halfway house on April 15, 2008, and robbed what was then the Mooresville Savings Bank at 401 Gilead Road in Huntersville, NC, were sentenced in federal court on Wednesday for their crimes. Moss received two life sentences and McCain received a sentence of approximately 16 years in prison.

U.S. Attorney Anne M. Tompkins is joined in making today’s announcement by Special Agent in Charge of FBI Operations in North Carolina Owen D. Harris, and Philip K. Potter, Chief, Huntersville Police Department. Substantial assistance in the investigation was also provided by officers of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation.

According to trial and other court proceedings and records, Moss and McCain had both received a pass from the McCloud Center halfway house in order to go out and search for jobs. Instead, they robbed the bank and led law enforcement on a high speed chase. After a car crash, Moss and McCain fled on foot. McCain was apprehended, while Moss escaped apprehension until the next day. Ultimately, McCain cooperated with the prosecution and appeared as a government trial witness. After the chase and car crash, Moss was captured near the residence of one of his girlfriends, who also appeared as a government trial witness. Evidence introduced during the trial included Moss’s DNA, which had been discovered on items used during the robbery that were recovered in the getaway car.

The prosecution was handled for the government by Assistant United States Attorney Steven R. Kaufman. Federal sentences are served without the possibility of parole.

United States v. Kelvin Moss and Shonn McCain
Case Number 3:08-cr-97