Jury Convicts KC Man of Heroin Conspiracy, Illegal Firearms
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A Kansas City man was convicted in federal court today of his role in a conspiracy to distribute heroin and of illegally possessing firearms.
Edgar A. Mejia, 49, was found guilty by a jury of one count each of conspiracy to distribute heroin and possessing firearms in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime.
On Oct. 10, 2022, law enforcement officers searched a 2000 Coachman recreational vehicle that belonged to Mejia. At the time of the search, Mejia was in custody in Oklahoma following his arrest for drug trafficking. Investigators in Oklahoma received information that Mejia had additional drugs and firearms hidden in his Coachman RV and notified local authorities.
Officers located Mejia’s RV parked next to an abandoned residence in the 2300 block of Drury Avenue in Kansas City. Investigators searched the RV and found, hidden behind a wall in the kitchen, 541 grams of heroin, a Springfield Armory Hellcat 9mm semi-automatic handgun, an American Tactical AR-15-style rifle and ammunition.
Following the presentation of evidence, the jury in the U.S. District Court in Kansas City deliberated for approximately three and a half hours before returning guilty verdicts to U.S. District Judge Greg Kays, ending a trial that began Wednesday, March 20.
Mejia previously pleaded guilty to one count of possessing the heroin inside the RV with the intent to distribute it and one count of being a felon in possession of the firearms recovered from the RV.
Under federal law, it is illegal for anyone who has been convicted of a felony to be in possession of any firearm or ammunition. Mejia has two prior state felony convictions for possession of a controlled substance and prior federal felony convictions for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and for being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Under federal statutes, Mejia is subject to a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in federal prison without parole. The maximum sentence the court could impose is life in federal prison without parole. The maximum statutory sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes, as the sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the court based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the U.S. Probation Office.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ashleigh A. Ragner and Robert M. Smith and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica L. Jennings. It was investigated by the Jackson County Drug Task Force; the District Attorney’s Task Force for the 13th Judicial District in Ottawa and Delaware Counties, Oklahoma; Wyandotte Nation Tribal Police Department, Wyandotte, Oklahoma; the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department; and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department of Justice launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities and measuring the results.
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