Federal Jury Convicts Muskogee Resident of Maliciously Burning Porter Dollar General Store
MUSKOGEE, OKLAHOMA - The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma announced today that Daniel Lewis Moon, age 25, of Muskogee, Oklahoma, was found guilty by a federal jury of Arson.
The jury trial began with testimony on Tuesday, November 8, 2022, and concluded on Wednesday, November 9, 2022, with the guilty verdict.
During the trial, the United States presented evidence that on March 28, 2020, Moon, a disgruntled employee of the Dollar General store in Porter, Oklahoma, maliciously set a fire inside the store. The fire caused extensive damage to the building and its contents. The store’s surveillance video revealed the Defendant was the only person in the area of the store where the fire began. The video also disproved the Defendant’s claim to investigators he was in another part of the store at the time the fire was set.
The guilty verdict was the result of an investigation by the Wagoner Country Sheriff’s Office, the Oklahoma State Fire Marshal’s Office, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma prosecuted the case because the property damaged in this case belonged to a business engaged in activity involving interstate commerce and the crime occurred in Wagoner County, within the Eastern District of Oklahoma.
The Honorable Charles B. Goodwin, U.S. District Judge in the United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma, sitting in Oklahoma City, presided over the trial and ordered the completion of a presentence report. Sentencing will be scheduled following completion of the report.
Assistant United States Attorneys Patrick Flanigan and Kristiana Dietzel represented the United States.
