Department of Justice
For Immediate Release
KC Man Sentenced for Armed Bank Robbery
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Timothy A. Garrison, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Kansas City, Mo., man was convicted by a federal trial jury today of distributing crack cocaine and illegally possessing firearms.
Lamont E. Owens, 47, of Kansas City, was found guilty of all eight charges contained in an Aug. 31, 2016, federal indictment. Owens was convicted of possessing crack cocaine with the intent to distribute, possessing firearms in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime, being a felon in possession of a firearm and five counts of distributing crack cocaine. Owens has been in federal custody since his arrest in October 2015, and remains in federal custody pending a sentencing hearing.
According to evidence introduced during the trial, Owens sold crack cocaine to an undercover detective on five separate occasions between Aug. 31 and Oct. 20, 2015. Officers executed a search warrant at Owens’s residence on Oct. 27, 2015, and arrested him. He was in possession of 75 separate baggies that contained a total of 15 grams of crack cocaine.
When officers searched the residence they seized an additional 49 grams of crack cocaine, approximately 30 grams of powder cocaine, approximately 125.8 grams of marijuana, a Grand Power 9mm handgun, a Rossi .357-caliber revolver, various rounds of ammunition and $9,829.
Following the presentation of evidence, the jury in the U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Mo., deliberated for about three hours before returning the guilty verdicts to U.S. Chief District Judge Greg Kays, ending a trial that began Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2018.
Under federal statutes, Owens is subject to a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in federal prison without parole, up to a sentence of 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 United States Probation Office.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Stefan C. Hughes and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Kim Moore. It was investigated by the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department.
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