A no bond arrest warrant was issued Friday for a 33-year-old Mt. Vernon man who failed to appear at his sentencing in Jefferson County court on felony weapons convictions.

Rodney Moore was scheduled to be sentenced at 9:30 a.m. Friday. He had represented himself in the case since shortly after his arrest and had been advised earlier that if he failed to appear for the hearing he would be sentenced in absentia.

According to court records, stand-by defense attorney Phillip Butler had spoken with Moore on the phone at 9:50 a.m. Friday and told him in which courtroom the hearing was being held.
He reportedly told Butler he was on his way from Centralia, but had not appeared by 10:50 a.m.

Moore was subsequently sentenced in absentia to 10 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections for Class 2 felony being a felon in possession of a firearm with a prior conviction and 3 years for Class 3 felony possession of a firearm with a defaced serial number.

The sentences are to be served concurrently and will be followed by two years mandatory supervised release at the completion of the prison term.

Moore was arrested in August 2017 and represented himself since early in the case. A Jefferson County jury deliberated for just over five and a half hours in May before handing down their verdict of guilty on both counts.

Despite the state’s objection, Moore’s $2,000 bond was not revoked following his conviction and he had remained free on bond pending his sentencing.

He posted bond in December 2017 and was given credit at sentencing for 135 days already served in jail.