KCK Man Sentenced to 20 Years for Illegal Firearm, Marijuana

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Tom Larson, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Kansas City, Kan., man was sentenced in federal court today for illegally possessing a firearm and possessing marijuana for distribution.

Michael Anthony Garrett, 32, of Kansas City, Kan., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Roseann Ketchmark to 20 years in federal prison without parole.

Garrett was convicted at trial of being a felon in possession of a firearm, possessing marijuana with the intent to distribute and possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime on Jan. 13, 2016.

Evidence introduced during the trial indicated that Garrett was in possession of a loaded Glock .45-caliber pistol on Dec. 28, 2014. An off-duty police officer found Garrett asleep in a Dodge Caravan that was parked at one of the pumps at Grand Slam gas station, 631 Grand, Kansas City, Mo. There was no one else in the vehicle. The officer attempted to wake Garrett up but he would not wake up.

Another officer saw a handgun in the vehicle, lying in plain view on top of a pile of clothes between the seats. There was a holster for the gun observed on the front passenger floor board. Officers also found a digital scale and a mason jar containing five separately packaged baggies totaling 10.3 grams of marijuana in the vehicle. When Garrett eventually woke up, he was arrested.

Under federal law, it is illegal for anyone who has been convicted of a felony to be in possession of any firearm or ammunition. Garrett has prior felony convictions for aggravated assault of a law enforcement officer and eluding a police officer.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jeffrey Q. McCarther and Alison Dunning. It was investigated by the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.