A Kansas City, Missouri, man was convicted by a federal jury of illegally possessing a firearm and methamphetamine.
Anthony E. Myers, 39, was found guilty of being a felon in possession of a firearm and of possessing methamphetamine.
Myers was arrested on April 1, 2018, when Kansas City police officers responded at 1:53 a.m. to a reported disturbance in the 5100 block of E. 24th Street. A witness reported that Myers was walking in the middle of the street when he pulled out a gun and fired into the air. When officers contacted Myers, he initially refused to follow their commands and walked away from the officers. He was taken to the ground as he continued to resist.
After Myers was detained, the officers seized a loaded Taurus Millennium 9mm handgun that was sticking out of the pocket of his Carhartt jacket and a gun holster. A glass pipe with residue fell out of his pocket, and officers found a second glass pipe and a plastic bag that contained almost six grams of methamphetamine in an inside pocket of Myers’s jacket. Investigators viewed a surveillance video that showed Myers in the street and recovered two shell casings in the middle of the street. The headstamps on the two shell casings matched the headstamps on the two rounds of ammunition in the firearm.
Under federal law, it is illegal for anyone who has been convicted of a felony to be in possession of a firearm or ammunition. Myers has prior felony convictions for robbery, domestic assault, and possessing a controlled substance with the intent to distribute.
Following the presentation of evidence, the jury in the U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Mo., deliberated for two hours before returning the guilty verdict to U.S. Chief District Judge Beth Phillips, ending a trial that began Monday, July 6.
Under federal statutes, Myers is subject to a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in federal prison without parole for the firearm conviction and up to one year in federal prison without parole for the drug possession. 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. Attorneys Emily A. Morgan and Mary Kate Butterfield. It was investigated by the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department, the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.
