KC Man Sentenced to 20 Years for Illegal Firearms

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, 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 firearms.

Jason L. Robbins, 33, of Kansas City, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Greg Kays to 20 years in federal prison without parole.

On Nov. 29, 2012 Robbins was convicted at trial of two counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm and two counts of possessing a stolen firearm. The court today sentenced Robbins to the maximum penalty of 10 years on each count of being a felon in possession of a firearm, and ordered those terms to be served consecutively.

On Aug. 19, 2009, Kansas City police officers were dispatched on a domestic violence disturbance where a party was armed with a firearm. According to court records, Robbins broke into his ex-girlfriend’s home and held a gun to her 9-year-old son’s head. He then took her hostage and threatened to kill her in front of her son. She testified during the trial that Robbins put the gun in her mouth so hard it split her tooth “down the middle.” She also testified that Robbins struck her twice with the gun “in the back of the head, and once on the side.” Robbins placed a gun to her head and forced her to go with him, dragging her out of the home against her will. On the street they encountered a neighbor who attempted to intervene, and Robbins threatened him with the gun as well.

When Robbins saw the police officers approaching he ran and the officers pursued him, apprehending him after a brief foot chase. A police dog located a Hi-Point semi-automatic 9mm pistol along the path where Robbins had fled. The firearm had been reported as stolen from a victim’s home earlier that day.

On May 16, 2010, Kansas City police officers observed a vehicle that they believed to be stolen. As the officers approached the car, Robbins, who had previously been seated in the driver’s seat, began running away from the officers. An officer chased Robbins and saw him pull a black handgun from his waistband and throw it on the sidewalk. Robbins was immediately placed under arrest. The handgun, a Taurus .45-caliber pistol, was loaded with nine live rounds of ammunition.

Investigators later learned that the firearm was stolen in a residential burglary on April 28, 2010, in which numerous firearms were taken.

Under federal law, it is illegal for anyone who has been convicted of a felony to be in possession of any firearm or ammunition. Robbins has prior felony convictions for non-support, tampering with a motor vehicle and resisting arrest.

This case was prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jalilah Otto and Stacey Perkins-Rock and Assistant U.S. Attorney David DeTar Newbert. It was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department.

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.