NEWS RELEASE

OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY

WESTERN DISTRICT OF MISSOURI

JOHN F. WOOD

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 25, 2008

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PROJECT CEASEFIRE

KC MAN SENTENCED TO 15 YEARS

FOR ILLEGAL FIREARM

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – John F. Wood, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Kansas City, Mo., man was sentenced in federal court today for illegally possessing a firearm.

George L. Gordon, 28, of Kansas City, was sentenced by U.S. Chief District Judge Fernando J. Gaitan this morning to 15 years in federal prison without parole. Gordon was sentenced as an armed career offender due to his prior violent felony convictions.

On Nov. 19, 2007, Gordon pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm. Gordon admitted that he was in possession of a Sturm Ruger .357-caliber revolver when he was arrested by Kansas City police officers on Nov. 23, 2006. Officers searched Gordon’s vehicle following his arrest on an outstanding warrant and found the handgun in the glove compartment.

Under federal law, it is illegal for anyone who has been convicted of a felony to be in possession of any firearm or ammunition. Gordon has prior criminal felony convictions for domestic assault, endangering the welfare of a child, robbery and armed criminal action.

This case was prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Stefan C. Hughes. 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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