Two Men Found Guilty of March 2018 Armed Credit Union Robbery

Anchorage, Alaska – U.S. Attorney Bryan Schroder announced that two Anchorage men were found guilty on all counts, in connection with the March 2018 robbery of the Credit Union One branch located at 3525 Eureka Street in Anchorage.

John Pierce, 30, and Michael Wayne Moore, 46, both of Anchorage, were found guilty yesterday after a seven-day jury trial.  The jury found Pierce and Moore guilty of conspiracy to commit credit union robbery, armed robbery of a credit union, and brandishing a firearm during and in relation to and in furtherance of a credit union robbery.  As a result of their convictions, Pierce and Moore face a maximum penalty of up to 25 years in federal prison, along with a consecutive seven years for brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a credit union robbery.    

According to evidence presented at trial, on March 13, 2018, Pierce entered the Credit Union One, armed with a handgun, and was wearing a light colored mask, dark pants, dark gloves, a camouflage coat, and red shoes.  Pierce was brandishing a handgun with a laser sight attached and carrying a black gym bag.  As he was brandishing the gun, he demanded and obtained approximately $15,000 in cash from a number of tellers.  Pierce then ran west bound from the credit union and then got into a red sedan driven by Moore, who was waiting in a nearby parking lot.

Moore was almost immediately identified as the get-away driver when APD officers working with FBI special agents canvassed the scene and found surveillance footage of the getaway vehicle, driver, and passenger.  The surveillance footage revealed a partial license plate on the get-away vehicle, and that it was an older Chevrolet Lumina.  When Moore was interviewed, he denied knowledge of the robbery, but admitted that he had been in the same area as the bank robbery, but stated that it was because he was transporting narcotics – not robbing a bank.  During the course of the interview with Moore, investigators learned that he has three prior bank robbery convictions in the District of Alaska. 

A search of the vehicle revealed evidence associated with the credit union robbery, including the mask worn by Pierce, who was later identified through the use of cell phone location analysis and other investigative techniques.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Anchorage Police Department (APD), as part of FBI’s Safe Streets Task Force, conducted the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of this case. The FBI’s Cellular Analysis Survey Team (CAST) also provided substantial assistance.  This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Adam Alexander and Karen Vandergaw of the District of Alaska, and Trial Attorney C. Alden Pelker of the Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.