United States Attorney
District of Kansas
NEWS RELEASE
Lanny D. Welch, U.S. Attorney
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U.S. Department of Justice United States Attorney District of Kansas |
NEWS RELEASE Lanny D. Welch, U.S. Attorney |
Contact: Jim Cross |
Headquarters 1200 Epic Center 301 N. Main Wichita, Kansas 67202 (316)269-6481 FAX (316)269-6484 |
Topeka Office Kansas City Office |
HALF A DOZEN BULLETS BRING CAREER CRIMINAL DOWN
WICHITA, KAN. – A Wichita man with a long criminal history will spend more than 19 years in federal prison because he was arrested with six bullets in his pocket.
James E. Baker, 45, was sentenced Wednesday to 235 months in federal prison. He appeared before U.S. District Judge J. Thomas Marten.
“Mr. Baker is an armed career criminal with six convictions for commercial burglaries or attempted commercial burglaries,” said U.S. Attorney Eric Melgren. “He has been committing crimes since he was 20 years old. The purpose of this sentence is to protect the public from further crimes.”
“Based on his very distinctive M.O., James Baker was a suspect in over 56 burglaries in Wichita in the last year,” said Captain Darrell Haynes, of the Wichita Police Department Property Crimes Bureau. “Our department had grown so frustrated in trying to capture Mr. Baker that we had begun to form a task force to focus solely on him. We are very grateful the U.S. Attorney’s Office stepped up and was willing to prosecute him for this crime. This conviction will get Mr. Baker off the streets for a very long time so that he can no longer victimize the citizens of Wichita.”
In August, a jury found Baker guilty of one count of unlawfully possessing ammunition after felony convictions. Evidence presented at trail showed that when he was arrested Nov. 2, 2005, police found six rounds of .38 caliber ammunition in his possession. Evidence was presented that the bullets and a firearm had been stolen a few hours earlier during a commercial burglary at Doc’s Steakhouse.
Federal law makes it a crime for a convicted felon to possess a firearm or ammunition. Federal sentencing guidelines make no distinction between the possession of a firearm and the possession of ammunition.
Melgren commended the Wichita Police Department and Assistant U.S. Attorney Matt Treaster for their work on the case.
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