NEWS RELEASE

OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY

WESTERN DISTRICT OF MISSOURI

BETH PHILLIPS

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

www.usdoj.gov../index.html

JANUARY 22, 2010

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

LEE’S SUMMIT MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO

DRUGGING A WOMAN’S DRINK

            KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Beth Phillips, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Lee’s Summit, Mo., man pleaded guilty in federal court today to sneaking a drug into a woman’s drink at a downtown Kansas City, Mo., bar.

            James W. Ware, 50, of Lee’s Summit, waived his right to a grand jury and pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Gary A. Fenner this morning to a federal information that charges him with distributing Alprazolam.

            Ware approached a woman who was sitting at the bar at the Bulldog, 1715 Main Street, Kansas City, on July 1, 2008. Ware and the woman conversed for about 20 minutes before she ordered a drink, which Ware paid for. When the drink arrived, the woman went outside to smoke a cigarette. While she was gone, Ware admitted, he added about half of one .25-mg. Alprazolam tablet to the woman’s drink. The bartender saw what happened, and the woman never consumed the drink.

            Alprazolam (Xanax) is a Schedule IV controlled substance. It is part of the Benzodiazepine family of drugs, a category of drugs known to be used as “date rape” drugs.

            Under federal statutes, Ware is subject to a sentence of up to three years in federal prison without parole, plus a fine up to $250,000. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.

            This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Catherine A. Connelly. It was investigated by the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department.

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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

http://www.justice.gov../index.html