NEWS RELEASE

OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY

WESTERN DISTRICT OF MISSOURI

MATT J. WHITWORTH

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

JUNE 30, 2008

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

KC MAN SENTENCED FOR BRANDISHING

FIREARM DURING CARJACKING

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Matt J. Whitworth, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Kansas City, Mo., man was sentenced in federal court today for brandishing a firearm during a carjacking.

Cornelius D. Felton, 22, of Kansas City, was sentenced by U.S. Chief District Judge Fernando J. Gaitan this afternoon to seven years in federal prison without parole.

On March 18, 2009, Felton pleaded guilty to brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence. Felton admitted that he brandished a firearm while stealing a 2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee from its owner on May 4, 2008.

Felton approached the owner of the vehicle as she was getting out of her car in the parking lot of the Chipotle Restaurant at 501 W. 75^th St., Kansas City. Felton pointed a silver revolver at her and demanded her car keys. The victim was ordered to place her purse on the ground and Felton stated, “Leave, run, I might just shoot you anyway.” The victim ran to a nearby house and called the police.

Felton was arrested the next day, when police officers observed him driving the stolen vehicle in the area of 30^th and Prospect.

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

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