KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Beth Phillips, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Kansas City, Mo., man was sentenced in federal court today for illegally possessing a firearm after he was apprehended for shooting at a vehicle and injuring two victims in a shooting in Westport.

Ricky L. Brooks, 32, of Kansas City, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Dean Whipple to 10 years in federal prison without parole, the statutory maximum penalty.

On May 3, 2010, Brooks pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Brooks was arrested on May 3, 2009, by Kansas City police officers who heard several gunshots in the area of Westport and Mill Streets. Officers approached Brooks, who was sitting in the front passenger’s seat of a Chevrolet Caprice with an assault rifle – a Romak-Romarm/Cugir SKS semi-automatic rifle – on his lap. Brooks got out of the car and attempted to flee, but was apprehended by police following a short foot chase and taken into custody.

According to evidence stipulated to in court, Brooks fired several shots at a Chevrolet Suburban, causing damage to the vehicle and wounding two victims, who received non-life threatening injuries. A woman sitting inside the Suburban was not injured.

Under federal law, it is illegal for anyone who has been convicted of a felony to be in possession of any firearm or ammunition. Brooks has eight prior felony convictions, including robbery, sale of a controlled substance and tampering with a motor vehicle.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul S. Becker. It was investigated by the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Project Ceasefire
Project Ceasefire, launched in October 1999, is a cooperative initiative by federal and local law enforcement and the Kansas City Crime Commission that targets for federal prosecution persons who unlawfully use or possess firearms.

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