Keith R. Hardin, Felon in Possession of a Firearm, Kansas City MO, …

Keith R. Hardin, 58, of Kansas City, Mo., was convicted today by a federal jury on one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm, a charge carrying a mandatory minimum of 15 years in federal prison without parole.

On January 15, 2016, at approximately 3:22 a.m., Kansas City police officers spotted Hardin walking in the street near 35th Street and S. Benton Avenue. With active warrants out for his arrest, officers detained him. A search during booking turned up a loaded Cobra .380-caliber semi-automatic handgun tucked on his left hip.

Hardin has prior felony convictions for armed criminal action, stealing a motor vehicle, sodomy, robbery, and burglary—crimes that strip him of the legal right to possess any firearm or ammunition under federal law. The weapon recovered was operable and fully loaded at the time of seizure.

The trial, held in U.S. District Court in Kansas City before Chief District Judge Greg Kays, began on Monday, Oct. 31, 2016. After hearing evidence from prosecutors and defense, the jury deliberated for just 15 minutes before returning a guilty verdict.

Federal prosecutors emphasized Hardin’s violent criminal history and the danger posed by felons armed with concealed handguns. Assistant U.S. Attorney Bruce A. Rhoades, who prosecuted the case, called the arrest a clear-cut violation of federal gun laws designed to keep weapons out of the hands of violent offenders.

The investigation was conducted by the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Sentencing is pending a presentence investigation by the U.S. Probation Office. Hardin remains in federal custody awaiting judgment.