KC man found guilty of distributing crack cocaine, gun charges

A 47-year-old Kansas City man was found guilty of distributing crack cocaine and illegally possessing firearms Thursday in federal court, the U.S. attorney’s office of the Western District of Missouri announced.

Lamont E. Owens was convicted of possessing crack cocaine with the intent to distribute, possessing firearms in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime, being a felon in possession of a firearm and five counts of distributing crack cocaine.

Owens has been in federal custody since October 2015, and remains in federal custody pending a sentencing hearing.

According to the U.S. attorney’s office, Owens sold crack cocaine to an undercover detective five times between Aug. 31, 2015 and Oct. 20, 2015.

Authorities searched Owens’ residence and arrested him Oct. 27, 2015. At the time of his arrest, Owens was found to be in possession of 75 separate baggies that contained 15 grams of crack cocaine. During their search, police also found 49 grams of crack cocaine, 30 grams of powder cocaine, 125.8 grams of marijuana, a Grand Power 9mm handgun, a Rossi .357-caliber revolver, various rounds of ammunition and $9,829.

A two-day jury trial was held in U.S. District Court in Kansas City this week. The jury deliberated for about three hours before returning guilty verdicts to the judge.

Owens faces a minimum sentence of 10 years up to life in federal prison, without parole.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Stefan C. Hughes and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Kim Moore. It was investigated by the Kansas City Police Department.

This story was originally published January 18, 2018 at 8:32 PM with the headline "KC man found guilty of distributing crack cocaine, gun charges."