Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A Kansas City, Missouri, man was sentenced in federal court today for illegally possessing the firearm he allegedly used to shoot and kill another person.

Dionandre Ganter, 31, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Bough to 15 years in federal prison without parole, which is the maximum penalty that can be imposed under the law.

On May 7, 2019, Ganter was convicted at trial of being a felon in possession of a firearm and of receiving a firearm while under indictment.

Evidence introduced during the trial indicated that Ganter was in possession of a loaded Smith and Wesson .40-caliber pistol on March 22, 2017. Ganter, a convicted felon, received that firearm while under indictment for tampering and resisting arrest in Jackson County, Missouri. According to court documents, Ganter used the firearm to shoot and kill another person. Ganter has been charged in Jackson County Circuit Court with murder, armed criminal action, and attempted robbery.

At 2:55 a.m. on March 22, 2017, Kansas City police officers responded to a reported shooting at the intersection of Van Brunt Boulevard and Anderson Avenue. An officer saw Ganter, who was not wearing a shirt and had his right wrist bandaged, leaving the area. The officer saw Ganter place a handgun in a flowerpot on the northwest corner of the intersection.

Ganter was detained for further investigation and the firearm was retrieved from the flowerpot.

Under federal law, it is illegal for anyone who has been convicted of a felony to be in possession of any firearm or ammunition. Ganter’s criminal history includes multiple instances of assaultive conduct, including six convictions (two of them felonies) related to domestic assault and a prior felony conviction for obstruction of legal process.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Q. McCarther and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Sean T. Foley. 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.

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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/wdmo

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