NEWS RELEASE

OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY

WESTERN DISTRICT OF MISSOURI

BRADLEY J. SCHLOZMAN

Contact Don Ledford, Public Affairs ● (816) 426-4220 ● 400 East Ninth Street, Room 5510 ● Kansas City, MO 64106

www.usdoj.gov/usao/mow/index.html

JANUARY 23, 2007

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PROJECT CEASEFIRE

FLEEING FELON SENTENCED FOR ILLEGAL FIREARM

            KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Bradley J. Schlozman, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Kansas City, Mo., man who fired at a pursuing police officer was sentenced in federal court today for illegally possessing a firearm.

            Christopher T. Brown, 25, of Kansas City, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Ortrie D. Smith this morning to eight years and one month in federal prison without parole.

            On Aug. 18, 2006, Brown pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm. Brown admitted that he was in possession of a Bryco Arms 9 mm pistol on April 17, 2006. Under federal law. Schlozman explained, it is illegal for anyone who has been convicted of a felony to be in possession of any firearm or ammunition. Brown has a 1997 criminal felony conviction for involuntary manslaughter in Jackson County.

            Brown was arrested in connection with police pursuit that occurred on April 17, 2006. Police officers were investigating a report of suspicious parties selling drugs at 81^st Street and Troost Avenue in Kansas City. When the officers attempted to conduct pedestrian checks on four individuals, one of them began fleeing on foot. During the pursuit, the individual – later identified as Brown – turned and fired a single shot at the police officer. The officer took cover behind a trash dumpster and lost sight of Brown, who was not apprehended on that day. During a canvass of the area, the pistol was found on the ground near the trash dumpster.

            This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jess E. Michaelsen. It was investigated by the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Project Ceasefire

            Project Ceasefire, launched in October 1999, is a cooperative initiative by federal and local law enforcement and the Kansas City Crime Commission that targets for federal prosecution persons who unlawfully use or possess firearms.

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This news release, as well as additional information about the office of the United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, is available on-line at

www.usdoj.gov/usao/mow/index.html