NEWS RELEASE

OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY

WESTERN DISTRICT OF MISSOURI

MATT J. WHITWORTH

Contact Don Ledford, Public Affairs ● (816) 426-4220 ● 400 East Ninth Street, Room 5510 ● Kansas City, MO 64106

www.usdoj.gov/usao/mow/index.html

NOVEMBER 17, 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ASH GROVE MAN SENTENCED TO 19 YEARS IN PRISON

FOR ILLEGALLY POSSESSING AMMUNITION

            KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Matt J. Whitworth, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced today that an Ash Grove, Mo., man has been sentenced in federal court for illegally possessing ammunition.

            Michael Adkins, 56, of Ash Grove, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Ortrie D. Smith on Monday, Nov. 16, 2009, to 19 years and seven months in federal prison without parole. Adkins was sentenced as a career criminal due to his prior felony convictions.

            On Dec. 23, 2008, Adkins pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of ammunition. Members of the Greene County Sheriff’s Department were dispatched to Adkins’ residence on Nov. 16, 2005, in reference to an assault. The same day, deputies obtained a search warrant for the residence, where they recovered numerous rounds of various types of ammunition as well as drug paraphernalia.

            Under federal law, it is illegal for anyone who has been convicted of a felony to be in possession of any firearms or ammunition. Adkins has two felony convictions for both burglary and stealing, as well as prior felony convictions for possession of burglar’s tools, failure to appear in court, and unlawful use of a weapon.

            This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney James J. Kelleher. It was investigated by the Greene County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

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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.usdoj.gov/usao/mow/index.html