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

AUGUST 13, 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PROJECT CEASEFIRE

KC MAN SENTENCED TO 15 YEARS FOR

ILLEGAL FIREARM, MARIJUANA

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 illegally possessing a firearm and for possessing marijuana with the intent to distribute.

Ishmael K. Harris, 29, of Kansas City, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Scott O. Wright this morning to 15 years in federal prison without parole. Harris was sentenced as an armed career offender due to his prior violent and drug trafficking felony convictions.

On March 18, 2009, Harris pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm and to possession with intent to distribute marijuana. Harris was arrested after leaving a residence that was under surveillance by the Jackson County Drug Task Force during a narcotics investigation. Harris’ pick-up truck was stopped by law enforcement officers, who conducted a search and found a duffel bag containing approximately three pounds of marijuana in the back seat as well as a Hi-Point 40-caliber semi-automatic pistol in the center console area. Officers later found approximately 30 pounds of marijuana while searching Harris’ residence.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul S. Becker. It was investigated by the Jackson County Drug Task Force, the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department, the Raytown, 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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