Keith L. Carnes, Illegal Firearms, Missouri 2016

Kansas City Man Convicted of Illegal Firearms

A Kansas City man was convicted by a federal trial jury today of illegally possessing firearms following a three-vehicle collision in which he struck and killed another motorist.

Keith L. Carnes, 30, was found guilty of one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm and two counts of being an unlawful user of a controlled substance in possession of a firearm.

The accident occurred at the intersection of 63rd Street and Prospect Avenue on Aug. 30, 2016. Three vehicles were involved, including a 2008 Pontiac G6 driven by Carnes. Witnesses told police officers that the Pontiac, which had multiple bullet holes in the driver’s side doors, was traveling southbound on Prospect Avenue at a high rate of speed and failed to stop for the red traffic signal.

Carnes, who had blood on his t-shirt, told officers, “I have been shot, I know I have been shot.” Police officers broke a window in the Pontiac so they could reach Carnes and provide medical assistance. Officers saw a bag of marijuana and a Bersa Thunder .380-caliber semi-automatic handgun on the driver’s side floorboard. The handgun had blood on it.

Evidence introduced during the trial indicated Carnes had used the same Bersa Thunder .380-caliber semi-automatic handgun in a shooting on Aug. 16, 2016, in the 3600 block of Wabash Avenue. The victim of that shooting positively identified Carnes in a photographic lineup as the person who fired four shots at him.

Carnes had also been arrested for driving while intoxicated following a traffic stop on Feb. 10, 2013. Kansas City police officers stopped Carnes, who was driving a Jeep Liberty, when radar indicated Carnes was driving 54 miles per hour in a 35-miles-per-hour zone. Officers, who smelled a strong odor of marijuana in the vehicle, found a loaded Glock .45-caliber pistol in Carnes’ waistband.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Trey Alford and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Sean T. Foley. It was investigated by the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

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