KC Man Sentenced to 18 Years for Crack Cocaine, Firearms

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A Kansas City, Mo., man was sentenced in federal court today for distributing crack cocaine and illegally possessing firearms.

Lamont E. Owens, 48, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Greg Kays to 18 years and four months in federal prison without parole. The court ordered today’s federal sentence to be served consecutively to the unexpired state sentence for a murder conviction for which he was on parole at the time of the federal offense.

On Jan. 18, 2018, Owens was found guilty at trial of possessing crack cocaine with the intent to distribute, possessing firearms in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime, being a felon in possession of a firearm and five counts of distributing crack cocaine. Owens has been in federal custody since his arrest in October 2015.

According to evidence introduced during the trial, Owens sold crack cocaine to an undercover detective on five separate occasions between Aug. 31 and Oct. 20, 2015. Officers executed a search warrant at Owens’s residence on Oct. 27, 2015, and arrested him. He was in possession of 75 separate baggies that contained a total of 15 grams of crack cocaine.

When officers searched the residence they seized an additional 49 grams of crack cocaine, approximately 30 grams of powder cocaine, approximately 125.8 grams of marijuana, a Grand Power 9mm handgun, a Rossi .357-caliber revolver, various rounds of ammunition and $9,829.

Under federal law, it is illegal for anyone who has been convicted of a felony to be in possession of any firearm or ammunition. Owens has eight prior felony convictions that arose out of a single Jackson County, Mo., Circuit Court case for which he was on parole at the time of these federal offenses. A jury found Owens guilty of murdering one man and attempting to rob another. Owens and his confederates attempted to rob two drug dealers of their money and drugs and when the two victims fled the scene, Owens and his henchmen shot them. Owens was sentenced to 80 years in state prison, during which time he was cited 57 times for violations including fighting, inciting a riot, assault, possession and use of intoxicating substances, theft, contraband, creating a disturbance, insulting behavior and disobeying an order.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Stefan C. Hughes and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Kim Moore. It was investigated by the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department.