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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
April 14, 2008
LAWRENCE MAN SENTENCED TO MORE THAN 5 YEARS ON FEDERAL FIREARMS CHARGE
Major Edwards also faces murder charge in Douglas County District Court
KANSAS CITY, KAN. – Major C. Edwards, 28, Lawrence, was sentenced Monday to 63 months on a federal firearms charge.
In January, Edwards pleaded guilty to one count of unlawful possession of a sawed-off shotgun. In his plea, he admitted that on Aug. 11, 2006, he left a 12-gauge Ithaca Model 37 shotgun with a short barrel on the porch of a residence in Lawrence. The following day, he told the occupants of the residence he wanted the shotgun back. They told him they had given the shotgun to police.
In his plea, Edwards admitted that he was convicted in 2000 in Douglas County District Court on a felony charge of selling cocaine. He also admitted that he failed to register the sawed off shotgun with the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record, which is required by federal law.
Last month, Douglas County prosecutors charged Edwards and another man with first degree murder. They are accused of killing Anthony Vital. Vital’s body was found Oct. 15, 2006, on private property 2 miles west of Lawrence, Kan. He died from multiple gunshot wounds.
U.S. Attorney Eric Melgren commended the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Leavenworth Police Department, the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office and Assistant U.S. Attorney Terra Morehead for their work on the case.
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