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

MARCH 5, 2007

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

JEFFERSON CITY MAN INDICTED FOR ILLEGAL FIREARM

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Bradley J. Schlozman, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Jefferson City, Mo., man was indicted by a federal grand jury today for illegally possessing a firearm.

Barnard Lamount Reed, 37, of Jefferson City, was charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm while an unlawful user of a controlled substance in an indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Jefferson City.

Today’s indictment alleges that Reed, an unlawful user of heroin, was in possession of a loaded Sturm, Ruger and Company .22-magnum revolver on April 6, 2006. Under federal law, Schlozman explained, it is illegal for anyone convicted of a felony, and for anyone who is a user or addicted to a controlled substance, to be in possession of any firearm or ammunition. Reed has a 2000 criminal felony conviction for possession of marijuana in St. Louis, Mo., a 1995 criminal felony conviction for possession of crack cocaine in St. Louis, and a 1992 criminal felony conviction for two counts of possession of cocaine in St. Louis.

Schlozman cautioned that the charges contained in this indictment are simply accusations, and not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the charges must be presented to a federal trial jury, whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.

This case is being prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Lauren Kummerer. It was investigated by the Jefferson City, Mo., Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

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