KANSAS CITY, MO – A Kansas City man is staring down a decade or more in federal prison after a jury found him guilty Thursday of conspiring to distribute heroin and illegally possessing firearms. Edgar A. Mejia, 49, was convicted on one count each of conspiracy to distribute heroin and possessing firearms in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime, following a trial that began Wednesday.
The bust originated with a search of Mejia’s 2000 Coachman recreational vehicle on October 10, 2022. Ironically, Mejia was already in custody in Oklahoma, arrested on separate drug trafficking charges, when investigators got a tip he’d stashed more drugs and weapons inside the RV. Oklahoma authorities alerted Kansas City law enforcement, leading them to the vehicle parked near an abandoned residence in the 2300 block of Drury Avenue.
What they found wasn’t a stash, it was an armory and a heroin supply line. Hidden behind a wall in the RV’s kitchen, officers discovered 541 grams of heroin, a Springfield Armory Hellcat 9mm semi-automatic handgun, an American Tactical AR-15-style rifle, and a supply of ammunition. The evidence presented in U.S. District Court took roughly three and a half hours for the jury to digest before returning the guilty verdicts to U.S. District Judge Greg Kays.
This wasn’t Mejia’s first rodeo with the law. Court records reveal he’s a repeat offender, with prior state felony convictions for possession of a controlled substance. He also has federal felony convictions for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and for being a felon in possession of a firearm. Federal law clearly prohibits convicted felons from owning any firearms or ammunition – a rule Mejia clearly ignored.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ashleigh A. Ragner, Robert M. Smith, and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica L. Jennings are prosecuting the case, a multi-agency effort involving the Jackson County Drug Task Force, the District Attorney’s Task Force for the 13th Judicial District in Ottawa and Delaware Counties, Oklahoma, Wyandotte Nation Tribal Police Department, the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). Mejia now faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in federal prison without the possibility of parole.
The maximum sentence? Life in federal prison without parole. While the statutory maximum is set by Congress, Judge Kays will determine Mejia’s fate based on sentencing guidelines and other factors after a presentence investigation is completed by the U.S. Probation Office. The case falls under Project Safe Neighborhoods, a federal initiative aimed at reducing violent crime and gun violence by uniting law enforcement at all levels and engaging with communities.
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Key Facts
- Agency: ATF
- Category: Drug Trafficking|Weapons|Organized Crime
- Source: Official Press Release
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