New DOJ statistics list firearm, drug offenses among federal Operation LeGend charges
Since Operation LeGend launched last month, 43 people arrested in the anti-violence initiative have been charged with federal crimes in the Kansas City area, according to the Department of Justice.
A majority of the charges have been brought for crimes that, at face value, did not appear to be inherently violent, according to statistics released Wednesday by the DOJ. A total of 57 charges were filed against 43 people as of Tuesday.
Thirty-five of the charges relate to possession of firearms or ammunition, while 17 were for drug trafficking.
The rundown included:
- 20 people are charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm
- 17 are charged with drug trafficking
- Four are charged with being a drug user in possession of a firearm
- Six are charged with being in possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking
- Four are charged with being in possession of a firearm in furtherance of a violent crime
- One person is charged with being a felon in possession of ammunition
- Three people are charged with armed robbery
- One person is charged with carjacking
- One person is charged with arson
Locally, 18 people have been arrested for homicides. Five have been charged at the state level, U.S. Attorney Timothy Garrison said at a news conference Wednesday with U.S. Attorney General William Barr.
In an email after the news conference, Don Ledford, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Kansas City, clarified that seven defendants have been charged in six local homicides.
Of four of the homicides cases reviewed by The Star, charging documents in one case noted federal assistance.
In that case, which led to a second-degree murder charge, detectives said agents helped with surveillance. The suspect, Antoine Cotton, 42, was charged in the June 15 fatal beating of Hoang Dinh, 51, in Kansas City.
As part of the operation, officials said, U.S. Marshals Service deputies assisted in arresting Sean and Korey Matlock, who were charged with second-degree murder in the fatal shooting of 17-year-old SirJohn Harris in Independence.
In another case, federal agents helped arrest 44-year-old Joel Roseberry, who was charged with second-degree murder in the March 1 fatal shooting of Frederick Outley, 28, in Kansas City.
More recently, police said Operation LeGend agents assisted in investigating the July 24 fatal shooting of 21-year-old Chieyenne Wallis. Prosecutors have charged Michael Skinner, 22, of Grandview, with first-degree murder.
The operation, which was created to combat violence in Kansas City, is named after 4-year-old LeGend Taliferro, who was fatally shot in June as he slept in a Kansas City apartment.
Last week, prosecutors announced Ryson Ellis, 22, of Kansas City, was charged with second-degree murder in his killing.
“His name should be remembered and his senseless death, like those of all the other innocent victims in this recent surge, should be unacceptable to all Americans,” Barr said Wednesday.
LeGend’s mother, Charron Powell, called on anyone with information in unsolved killings to come forward.
“No, we don’t have our son back,” she said. “But at the same time, we ... have a light weight lifted off of us.”
The operation has since been expanded to other U.S. cities. It has led to nearly 1,500 arrests, including 90 for homicide, across the country, Barr said.
There have been 61 people federally charged in Chicago, 32 in Cleveland, 25 in St. Louis, 22 in Detroit, 16 in Albuquerque, 11 in Milwaukee and seven in Memphis, according to the DOJ.
At a briefing Wednesday, Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said President Donald Trump wants “peace in our streets.”
“Operation LeGend is a very good example of cooperation in action,” McEnany said, “which is a sharp contrast to those who merely express empty sentiments, or worse, hold blatant disregard for the unacceptable violence in our cities, of which many children have fallen victim.”
McClatchy’s Michael Wilner contributed to this reporting.
This story was originally published August 19, 2020 at 1:59 PM.
