NEWS RELEASE

OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY

WESTERN DISTRICT OF MISSOURI

BETH PHILLIPS

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

www.usdoj.gov../index.html

APRIL 21, 2010

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PROJECT CEASEFIRE

INDEPENDENCE MAN SENTENCED TO 10 YEARS

FOR ILLEGAL FIREARM

            KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Beth Phillips, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that an Independence, Mo., man was sentenced in federal court today for illegally possessing a firearm.

            Joshua E. Holmes, 31, of Independence, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Gary A. Fenner this afternoon to 10 years in federal prison without parole, which is the statutory maximum penalty.

            On Oct. 22, 2009, Holmes pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm. Independence, Mo., police officers were contacted on March 26, 2009, by Holmes’ girlfriend, who told them Holmes was intoxicated and armed. She told police that Holmes had threatened her with a firearm and told her that he was going to kill her daughter. Police officers responded to their residence and took up a perimeter around the building. When Holmes left the front porch he was arrested. Holmes was carrying a loaded Davis Industry .38-caliber semi-automatic in the waistband of his jeans. Police officers also found shotgun and a small suitcase containing a large amount of shotgun shells and .40-caliber ammunition in the residence.

            Under federal law, it is illegal for anyone who has been convicted of a felony to be in possession of any firearm or ammunition. Holmes has prior felony convictions for burglary and being a felon in possession of a firearm.

            This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul Becker. It was investigated by the Independence, 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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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.justice.gov../index.html