KANSAS CITY, Mo. - A Kansas City, Missouri, man has been sentenced in federal court for illegally possessing a firearm.
Carl D. Edwards, 38, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Bough on Monday, Feb. 3, to nine years and two months in federal prison without parole. Edwards was remanded to custody at the conclusion of yesterday’s sentencing hearing.
Edwards was convicted in a bench trial on June 17, 2019, of being a felon in possession of a firearm. Edwards was in possession of a Smith and Wesson.40-caliber handgun on Feb. 24, 2018. Kansas City police officers were dispatched that afternoon in response to a 9-1-1 call reporting a man high on PCP trying to get into a residence. Officers found Edwards lying in the driveway. The loaded handgun was tucked in his waistband.
Under federal law, it is illegal for anyone who has been convicted of a felony to be in possession of any firearm or ammunition. Edwards has prior felony convictions for armed bank robbery, assault on a law enforcement officer, and being a felon in possession of a firearm. According to court documents, Edwards has an extensive history of violent activity going back 20 years, including misdemeanor convictions for disturbing the peace, multiple assaults, multiple inflictions of injury, and harassment.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Q. McCarther and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron M. Jolly. It was investigated by the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Project Safe Neighborhoods
The U.S. Attorney’s Office is partnering with federal, state, and local law enforcement to specifically identify criminals responsible for significant violent crime in the Western District of Missouri. A centerpiece of this effort is Project Safe Neighborhoods, a program that brings together all levels of law enforcement to reduce violent crime and make neighborhoods safer for everyone. Project Safe Neighborhoods is an evidence-based program that identifies the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develops comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, Project Safe Neighborhoods focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
