KANSAS CITY, Mo. – David M. Ketchmark, Acting 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.

Diamond D. Blair, 36, of Kansas City, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Dean Whipple to 24 years and five months in federal prison without parole. Blair was sentenced as an armed career offender due to his prior felony convictions.

On Dec. 7, 2011, Blair was found guilty at trial of being a felon in possession of a firearm. Blair was in possession of a Smith and Wesson .38-caliber revolver on July 5, 2009. Blair was a passenger in a vehicle that was pulled over by Kansas City police officers on that date. When officers searched the vehicle, they found the loaded revolver behind the bench seat in the middle of the vehicle.

It is illegal for anyone who has been convicted of a felony to be in possession of any firearm or ammunition. Blair has two prior felony convictions for robbery, as well as prior felony convictions for forcible sodomy, kidnapping, armed criminal action and unlawful use of a weapon.

This case was prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorneys Leena V. Ramana and Sydney Sanders. 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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