Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Springfield, Mo., man was sentenced in federal court today for illegally possessing crack cocaine and a firearm.

Ulysses Johnson, 37, of Springfield, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge M. Douglas Harpool to 12 years and six months in federal prison without parole.

On April 7, 2014, Johnson pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm and to possessing crack cocaine with the intent to distribute. An undercover Springfield police officer purchased crack cocaine from Johnson on three separate occasions in December 2011 and January 2012. Officers executed a search warrant at Johnson’s residence on Jan. 18, 2012, and found a loaded FIE Tanfoglio .22-caliber revolver in the nightstand of the master bedroom, a partial box of .357-caliber and .22-caliber ammunition the hallway bathroom and a large bag that contained 12.64 grams of crack cocaine, divided into eight smaller individual baggies, hidden in an oven mitt in the kitchen. Johnson was placed under arrest.

Under federal law, it is illegal for anyone who has been convicted of a felony to be in possession of any firearms or ammunition. Johnson has prior felony convictions for aggravated robbery and taking a driving a vehicle without consent, two prior felony convictions for delivery of a controlled substance and two prior felony convictions for possession of THC.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ami Harshad Miller and Cindy Hyde. It was investigated by the Springfield, Mo., Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

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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/usao/mow/index.html

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